The 832nd Try
by superboetti
Summary: What if Lucas hadn't been with Cuddy at the conference...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my try at writing a Huddy story... it is set after 'Known Unknowns' and Lucas does NOT appear in the storyline!**

**Anyway this is chapter 1**

How Wilson could've talked him into thinking that this would be a great idea, he'd never know. _"Just offer her to baby-sit…" _Yeah right it's not like she would say yes. Especially after last night at the party. He had been such an idiot, why had he opened his mouth and talked about their one night together.

But what bothered him the most was that she had not even questioned him about why he was telling her now after twenty years. And why did she just run away? He had finally admitted that he had always been interested in her, that was what she wanted, right? Or maybe she was over him and had met someone new? God, he hoped not…

If she had met someone, she had done a pretty good job of hiding him, so good in fact that his eye for detail hadn't picked up on anything. And Wilson had been in the dark as well.

So here he was, standing in front of her hotel room ready to knock. Hoping that he could show her how much he wanted to be with her. And telling her that he understood she had a daughter.

Just as he was about to knock the door opened suddenly.

"God, you scared me House." She had Rachel balanced on her left hip and two bags slung around her right shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

"Down to the Day-care, I can't take Rachel with me to the conference. I don't have much time, so whatever it is you want let's walk and talk, because I'm already late." She rushed past him.

"I could watch her if you want…"

Cuddy stopped and turned around slowly "What…?" Both Cuddy and Rachel looked at him with the same curious expression.

"I said I could watch her."

"Why would you do that?" Rachel's curious look turned into a smile.

"I'm not doing much today and I thought I could help you out."

"Again, why would you do that? You've never shown interest in Rachel before." Cuddy still looked curious, but now there was a lot on confusion in her eyes as well.

"I… well, I'm not exactly sure why I'm doing this. Wilson seems to think it's a great idea." Rachel still had a smile on her face.

"So you're doing this for Wilson?" The curious look was now gone just the confusion was left.

"No, I'm doing this for you." There he had said it, now the ball was in her court. "But if you don't trust me with her, that's okay I guess." House turned around starting to limp back to his room. Knowing that she wouldn't trust him alone with Rachel, what had he been thinking?

"Wait…" He turned again and they were still standing by the door "Okay, you can watch her. You're probably more trustworthy than the people at the day-care…"

House smirked "Yeah and it's just gonna be the two of us to fight over the toys."

Cuddy smiled and he could see a bit of her doubt gone already, he hoped that he was hiding his though. "Rachel's gonna win that fight most of her toys are pink."

They entered the room and Cuddy let Rachel down. She was still a little wobbly on her feet, but she eventually made it over to the corner where her toys were.

"Okay, there are diapers and clothes in the bag. And there's food in the mini-bar, although she shouldn't be hungry before lunch and I hope to be back by then." House nodded hoping that he was giving her his most reassuring look he was capable of, even though he was a bundle of nerves on the inside.

"Are you really sure you can watch her, because she can be handful if she wants to be." Dammit she must've seen the nervous look in his eyes, damn her for being one of the few people who knew how to read him!

"Yeah, I'll be alright. You have your cell, right?"

Cuddy nodded and walked over to Rachel and picked her up and hugged her close to her. "I have to go baby-girl. House is going to take care of you." She pointed to House and he nodded at the little girl.

"Mama work?" She asked Cuddy.

"Smart kid…" He said impressed and stepped closer to them.

"Thanks" Cuddy handed Rachel over to him and surprisingly she didn't cry. It made Cuddy smile and House seemed relieved as well.

"Call me if you need me."

She gave Rachel one last kiss on the top of her head "Bye honey…" He heard her whisper softly.

"We'll see you in two hours." House said. And together with Rachel he watch Cuddy leave the hotel room.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter and thanks for the reviews and putting the story on your alerts... anyway here is the next chapter, hope you like it. And have a nice day;-)**

"So," He had Rachel's attention immediately "what do you wanna do?"

She looked up at him curiously and pointed to the door "Mama?" she asked.

"She had to go to work, remember?" He told her and the little girl seemed to understand. Come to think of it, it was actually a bit sad that Rachel was okay with her mum not being here.

"Doll" She pointed to the doll on the floor. House let her down and she walked over to the doll. He took a seat next to her on the floor. It amazed him that she was okay with him being here, she didn't know him and yet she hadn't run away screaming.

He was startled by a small hand on his left thigh, House looked down and there was Rachel holding the doll out to him.

"Sorry kid, I'm a little old to play with dolls."

Rachel smiled and pushed the doll even closer. "Please?" She pouted her lips and her eyes lit up.

"Oh boy," He took the doll "who taught you that?"

She just smiled and he could swear there was a little mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Rachel turned to the next toy which turned out to be a pink unicorn. If his team could see him right now, he would never hear the end of it.

For the next two hours House played with Rachel, they played with every toy in the pink toy mountain. He even taught her some new words. Yes, he was enjoying himself. Rachel was a very clever little girl, if House didn't already know that she was adopted he would've been sure that she was Cuddy biological daughter. She was just as stubborn as Cuddy and with enough manipulation she could get House to do everything.

At lunch time his cell rang.

"Phone" Rachel said which made House laugh, because it sounded very much like E.T.

"House?" He answered the cell.

"Hey, how's it going?" It was Cuddy just like he expected.

"Good… we're both still alive."

"Great, that's exactly what a mother wants to hear." He could hear she was relieved though.

"Actually it's going better than I thought it would." House said and kept a close eye on Rachel, who was currently 'reading' a book.

"Good… Listen I just found out I've to attend another conference. So I was thinking you two could come down here and have lunch with me?"

"Yeah sure, see you in the lobby." He hung up not waiting for a reply.

"Rachel" He waited for her to look up "Are you hungry?"

When they stepped into the elevator everybody smiled at them. He was a little uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting. Usually people ignored him and that's the way he liked it.

Cuddy was also smiling when she saw them enter the hotel lobby together. Rachel had her head on his shoulder while running her fingers through the short hair on the back of his neck.

"Wipe that grin off your face." House grumbled.

Cuddy did as she was told but the smile was still in her eyes. She reached out for Rachel, but she just snuggled closer to House. "Seems you've got a new best friend House." She teased and he couldn't help it he smiled down at Rachel.

Together they walked to the hotel restaurant. They looked like a regular family and House actually liked that feeling. But he would never admit that to anyone out loud.

They were seated at a lovely table by the window with a great view of the lake. House still had Rachel in his arms as the waiter was looking for a high-chair. There was a comfortable silence between them. All three of them enjoying the view of the lake.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" He whispered in return. There really was nothing else to say about the view.

Finally the waiter had found a high-chair and House could place Rachel in it. He was grateful for it, because just the thought of Wilson coming by at any moment made him a little uncomfortable. His reputation as the grumpy old bastard would've been smashed to pieces if Wilson saw him having lunch with Cuddy and the cute little munchkin. Yes, he thought of Rachel as cute, he couldn't find one bad word to describe her, he really was in deep trouble already.

The lunch was spend mostly in comfortable silence, with Rachel occasionally babbling and talking to no one in particular.

"Are you sure you can handle Rachel for three more hours?" Cuddy was right back to the doubtful side of their conversation from earlier.

"Yeah, I'm actually having fun…" House leaned forward waiting for her to do the same "But don't tell anyone." Cuddy smiled a dazzling smile which House stored in his mind for his dreams later.

"Your secret is save with me." He nodded and smirked glad that she was playing along "And as I said, it should only take three hours, if you're lucky she'll nap right through them."

"Great… I could use a nap myself. How do I get her to sleep?"

"Just lie down with her and it shouldn't take long. She looks pretty tired already." House looked at Rachel and sure enough the happy little twinkle in her eyes had gone.

And then he realized something else "She's going to need a diaper change soon, isn't she?"

"Unless you've potty trained her," House shook his head with a bit of panic in his eyes "then there will be a brownish gift waiting for you in the near future." Cuddy chuckled.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Only a little bit." She chuckled again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow... you guys are amazing thank you for reading and reviewing. Here's the next chapter…**

Cuddy entered the hotel room three hours later. The conference had been so boring, but she couldn't skip it like House would have done. That was the downside of being the boss you're always the first to blame and you have to attend all the meetings.

As she closed the door she became concerned. The room was too quite, not even the TV was on. She checked her cell to see if House had sent her a message, but he hadn't.

She rounded the corner and her worry disappeared. House and Rachel were both sound asleep on the bed. House was on his side and had a protective hand on Rachel's stomach. He must've fallen asleep when he had put her down for a nap. Cuddy smiled at the sight of them and fished her cell out of her pocket again. Yes he was going to hate her, but she couldn't resist she needed a picture of this.

Cuddy decided to let them sleep a little longer and made herself a cup of tea. She took it out on the balcony. This really was a beautiful place, she had always liked being around the water.

As Cuddy looked at the scenery she thought about the two people in her bed. At first she was very nervous about trusting House with Rachel, but when House had joined her for lunch showed just how capable he was of taking care of her daughter. But she had always known that he would be great with children, he was just a big kid himself.

Maybe they could cross the friendship-bridge and try building something a little more serious. She knew that he was only watching Rachel to help her out, he wasn't doing it to help himself.

But they still had some stuff to talk about and she had to apologize for running away from him yesterday. They also needed to talk about Mayfield.

Two cups of tea and an hour later she heard House limping around in the hotel room.

Cuddy smiled and just couldn't help herself when she said "Had a nice nap?"

House gasped and spun around startled "You saw the whole thing, didn't you?"

She dug out her cell and showed him her new background picture.

He took her cell and surprise was the only thing his face showed. Had he really been so cozy with Rachel? He couldn't even remember when he fell asleep. But it didn't bother him that much that she had seen him. Was he going soft in his old age? No that couldn't be, because people don't change, right?

"I'm going to put that picture in a very big frame and hang it in the hospital lobby." She teased him.

"You do know that I know a lot of secrets about you too, right?" He threw back at her. He knew that she wouldn't use the picture against him.

"Anyway… thank you for watching her."

"You're welcome." He mumbled "She's a great kid. Again don't tell anyone I said that. My reputation is taking a serious hit today."

Cuddy smiled and walked closer to him. "Listen about yesterday, I'm sorry that I ran away from you."

He nodded and waited for her explain further, but when she kept quite he said "So why did you?"

She had to look away from his intense blue eyes, she hated it when he used his eyes to get her to talk.

"Why did you run away?" he asked again, but his voice came out in a pleading tone.

"I don't know… Okay, I don't know." She looked up at him and House had to take a step back. She had the same look in her eyes after he had kissed when she had lost Joy last year. What did that mean? Did she want him to kiss her? It was all very confusing to him.

"You don't know?" Cuddy nodded "When you do come and find me and we'll talk."

"So now you're running away?"

"No, I'm not running away. I'm giving you some time to think, because I need to know why you reacted the way you did."

"Okay…" She whispered and understood "Maybe we can talk about this over dinner tonight?"

"Are you asking me on a date?" He asked with a small smile.

"No, not yet." She snapped her mouth shut and his eyes widened. House was glad that they both were on the same page about something, but they had to talk first.

"I'm gonna go now, before you say something else you don't want to. I'll pick you up at 7."

"Alright" Her smile was back. She watched him leave the room and her eyes lingered a bit on his ass, but she stopped herself from getting too carried away. She had some thinking to do.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews, I never expected such positive feedback... Again thank you! Here's the next chapter…**

House knocked on her door at exactly 7 o'clock, it took a while before Cuddy opened it. When she did House was so surprised his eyes nearly popped out of his head. She stood in front of him wearing nothing but a towel sticking to her body the water still dripping from her curly hair. House swallowed audibly.

"Ah… um," House couldn't look away "I'm not too early, am I?" That sounded strange and stupid even to his ears.

"No, Rachel has kept me on my toes the whole time, I think she's teething."

"Do you want me to take a look?" He limped past her and was at Rachel's side in a matter of seconds. He knew that Cuddy already had taken a look, but he was worried as well. What if Rachel wasn't just teething?

Rachel's cheeks were red and her hair was all sticky and sweaty. "She's really just teething House. Don't worry."

He felt Rachel's forehead just to be sure and she felt a little warm. But Cuddy knew what she was doing, she is a great mum. House winced, he thought back to the little girl with the light-allergy. How could he have told her then that she was going to be a terrible mother? He still felt really bad about that.

While House was thinking Cuddy had changed into a sweater and jeans, she found him still deep in his own thoughts.

"Something wrong?"

House turned to her "You didn't have to change you know." He said with a wide smile stretching across his face.

"Yeah I did. Are you sure you're okay, you had me worried there for a moment."

He stared at Cuddy for a long time, like he needed to think about what he was going to say, he even opened his mouth a couple of times, but no words came out. "I'm fine…" He decided on in the end. She knew there was something else he wanted to say, but she nodded and didn't push him for the right answer, which he was grateful for.

"Do you wanna just stay here and order from room service?" He then said.

"Yeah" She was glad that he understood that right now she couldn't leave her baby behind.

"Let's order dinner then."

30 minutes later House was halfway through his steak when Cuddy said: "I ran because I panicked." He nodded and told her to continue "The things you said were just so surprising and honest and I think at the time I couldn't handle that. My mind just told me to run…" She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and looked up from her food only to find his ocean blue eyes fixed on her. "I'm sorry." She finished in a whisper.

"I don't know why I even brought it up. It happened in the past and we can't change that. It was the wrong thing to say, I was only trying to tell you that I had always been interested in something more than just friendship." He finished in a whisper too and they both had a bit of a smile on their faces. It was a huge moment for them, they had both admitted what people around them had seen for a very long time.

Then he frowned "Do you think we wasted 20 years?"

"I don't know, but let's not get ahead of our self, we haven't even been on a date yet." She smiled. His eyes always changed when she smiled. Cuddy could always see how he felt just by looking him in the eye.

"A dance isn't gonna be enough for me to score this time around, hm… interesting."

"Yeah, I have higher standards these days." House smiled.

Suddenly they could hear Rachel crying. Cuddy was out of her chair and at Rachel's side in a matter of seconds. It took him a little longer, but even for a man with a limp he was also there pretty fast. Cuddy was already trying to calm Rachel down, by softly humming a lullaby.

It didn't take long for the cries to pipe down to silent hiccupping sobs with big tears streaming down the little girls cheek. When House stepped closer to them and Rachel saw him she reached out to him.

"She really likes you House, usually she shies away from new people and my mother." Cuddy said and let him take Rachel.

"I seem to have that effect on the Cuddy women."

They calmed Rachel down together. It wasn't too hard actually, Rachel just snuggled into House. And eventually she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder and her hand was running through the hairs on the back of his neck again.

"Why does she keep doing that?" He whispered.

"She does that with my hair too. I think it comforts her."

They sat in silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to say. There was still a lot to talk about, but he didn't want to ruin the perfect moment between the three of them.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" She seemed surprised that he didn't want to talk some more. He surprised himself by his suggestion, because usually he wanted to know every single detail, but he wanted to take it slow.

"Yeah sure."

House made himself comfortable on the bed, resting his back against the headboard. Cuddy did the same, neither of them noticed how close they sat next to each other.

Halfway through the movie he felt Cuddy's hand brush against his thigh. When he looked down he saw that she had fallen asleep. House smirked and slowly brought his arm around her and without hesitation she snuggled into his side her head landing on his free shoulder. After a while he closed his eyes as well and fell asleep with a little grin on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you for staying with the story… Hope you like the new chapter… and please keep reviewing they always make my day**

Three hours later House woke up when he felt something wet running down his neck. Cuddy was still at his side soundly asleep.

He looked to his right and Rachel was also still asleep, but she was drooling all over the right side of his neck. He sighed and tried to wipe the drool off, but because he had his arms around the girls he couldn't reach his neck.

House tried to wriggle out of Cuddy's fierce grip, which wasn't easy because every time he moved a bit Rachel moved as well and he didn't want to wake the kid. Eventually he had disturbed Cuddy enough and she turned to the other side.

Finally he was able to move his left arm and wipe the drool away. And very slowly he freed himself from Rachel and lied her down next to him on his right side. House put some pillows on her other side so she wouldn't roll off the bed. Again he placed a protective hand on the little girl's stomach, and fell asleep with a grin on his face… again.

Cuddy woke up when the sunlight hit her face and when she felt pain in her neck. She still had her back against the headboard, the last thing she remembered was watching the movie with House. She turned to her left side and he was still there sleeping soundly. He was lying on his side his back to her and again he had a protective hand on Rachel's stomach. The sight made her smile, he was really trying she was so proud of him.

She got up and went to the bathroom.

House felt the bed dip next to him and slowly opened his eyes and saw that the alarm read 7:15, way too early to get up on a Sunday. Rachel was still sleeping peacefully next to him. Slowly he rolled away from the little girl, hoping that she wouldn't wake up, and he replaced himself with a pillow.

"Good morning…" Cuddy said when she noticed him sitting at the end of the bed.

"Morning" He mumbled. House stood up slowly using his cane to lean more heavily on. His thigh was a little stiff, probably from sleeping in the same position all night.

"You okay?" Of course she noticed that he was in more pain than usual.

"I'm fine." He painfully limped closer trying not to show how much pain really was in. "I should go, I'm sure that Wilson is probably wondering what we've been up to."

"Okay…" He was just about to open the door when Cuddy said: "Hey, why don't we all go have breakfast together?"

"Yeah then Wilson can interrogate the both of us, good plan… I'll see you later." He closed the door quietly behind him.

House met Cuddy and Rachel on the way to the elevator. Rachel greeted him with a big smile.

"Wow, that's the first time someone's actually happy to see me." He smiled down to the little girl. He never expected that Rachel would take such a shine to him, no one ever had, not even Cuddy. It had taken them over 20 years to finally admit that they had feelings for each other, Rachel wasn't even two years old.

"Where's Wilson?"

"He's meeting us downstairs. He got up at 5 in the morning just so he could pack in time."

"Really? When are we leaving, 'cause I still need to pack Rachel's things."

"No need to panic, I haven't even started to pack, I'm kinda hoping Wilson will do that for me."

"Yeah, that's what friends are for, getting them to pay your food and packing your bags."

"Yep, sounds about right." House said after considering it for a while. Cuddy chuckled which caused Rachel to giggle.

Wilson had been waiting for quite a while. Why was everybody late today? He just wanted to get home.

Then suddenly he heard some very loud giggling. Cuddy walked in with Rachel on her hip, House right behind her doing funny faces to the girl who was laughing loudly. The sight of them entering together brought a smile to his face. He was glad to see his best friends so happy.

He waved them over and Rachel continued to laugh and giggle even though House wasn't making funny faces anymore.

"Finally, I've been waiting for like 10 minutes."

"Sorry Wilson." Cuddy said while putting Rachel in the high-chair.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get out of here? Don't you like it here?" House said that last part a little louder getting the attention from the people at the next table.

Wilson rolled his eyes at him "I just want to get back to my patients."

"You are a real buzz-kill you know that, right? And we can't leave I haven't packed yet." He said while looking at Cuddy with a big smile.

"What! I told you to pack yesterday."

"Why are you so anxious to get out of here? What's so important about your patients?" Now even Cuddy was a little worried.

"Just forget it! Let's eat and I'll pack your thinks later." Wilson mumbled and effectively ended the conversation when he took the breakfast menu.

House and Cuddy exchanged worried looks, even Rachel looked a little confused at the man with the big eyebrows.

House had an idea though why Wilson was acting like this. The only thing that made Wilson snap like that was losing people, so House reckoned that there was a dying patient with which Wilson had bonded.

An hour later they were on the way back to Princeton. Wilson was driving, speeding along the highway, so fast in fact he could see Cuddy holding onto the front seat very tightly.

"Do you want me to drive? This is the second time you've nearly crashed into the car in front of us." House offered he could see that Wilson wasn't really paying much attention to the traffic in front of him.

"No, I'm okay."

"Okay then can you pull over I need to go to the bathroom." At least that way they could all take a little break and Wilson could calm down. Maybe he could even convince Wilson to let him drive the rest of the way.

Wilson pulled over at the next service station and was on the phone and out of the car in seconds without even turning the engine off.

"What's going on with him?"

"Some dying patient, who is important to him." House explained.

"Oh… so why didn't he call off the conference?"

"Because he wants to please everyone." He turned to get a better look of Cuddy "I actually do have to go to the bathroom." He got out without waiting for a reply.

When House got back Wilson was still on the phone, so House got in the driver's seat. He could hear Cuddy breathe a sigh of relieve.

"He's not gonna like that."

"Don't care…"

And sure enough when Wilson came back to the car he glared angrily at House and ripped the car door open. "Move over."

"No" To prove his point even more he put his seatbelt on.

By now the coloring of Wilson's face had turned to an angry red and his eyes showed how furious he really was. But House stared right back at him not giving in like someone else would've done.

"Fine" Wilson said eventually and House was rewarded with a pat on his shoulder from Cuddy.

They were driving towards Princeton again, still a little faster than the average, but at least House was focused on his driving.

Two hours later, after he had dropped Wilson off at PPTH, House pulled into Cuddy's driveway. They both got out of the car and Cuddy looked at him in surprise when he helped carrying her bags.

"Just trying to be nice." He mumbled when he limped past her and carried her bag to the laundry room.

When he was at the front door again he watched as Cuddy helped Rachel climb up the stairs. The little girl grunting every time she heaved her little body one step closer to the top. And when she reached her goal Rachel raised her fists to the air and had a big smile on her face.

Cuddy bent down and whispered something to Rachel while pointing towards House.

Rachel turned towards him swaying for a bit, but regained her balance and walked towards him in fast wobbly excited steps. When she reached him she lifted her hand towards him, House looked over at Cuddy who mouthed 'High-five'.

He grinned and brought his own hand closer to Rachel, who high-fived him while laughing.

"My nephew taught her that." Cuddy said while laughing along with her daughter. House smiled as well. He liked seeing Cuddy like this all happy and carefree.

"I should get going, before Wilson realizes that I haven't returned his car yet." Cuddy knew he just wanted to be there when Wilson gets home.

So she just nodded and picked Rachel up "Say bye-bye to House, Rachel."

"Bye-bye Hows."

"Bye Rachel." He leaned forward and kissed the girl's forehead.

"See you tomorrow Cuddy." He kissed her cheek and smiled a genuine smile, one she had probably last seen in Michigan.

"See you tomorrow." She whispered.

Rachel waved to him all the way down to Wilson's car.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: What else can I say, but thank you for reviewing and reading! It's great that so many of you seem to like the story, so again thank you and keep on reading and reviewing they always make my day seem a little less grey and hopeless;-) Anyway enough of that here's the next chapter…**

House woke up the next morning to an empty apartment, so Wilson was still at the hospital with his patient. He decided to get to work early and have a serious conversation with his friend. Why did he have to get so involved with his patients? House would never be able to understand that.

As House entered the PPTH lobby 45 minutes later his first stop was the cafeteria getting some breakfast, since Wilson hadn't made him anything. He ordered some pancakes, unfortunately they weren't Wilson's macadamia nut pancakes, but right now he was so hungry he could eat anything, even crappy hospital food.

After he had paid he noticed Cuddy sitting in a quiet corner all alone reading a medical journal while eating breakfast.

"Good morning"

She nearly choked on her food when she saw who it was. "Well good morning. What are you doing her so early?"

"Have you seen Wilson, he didn't come home yesterday?" He said getting straight to the point.

"No sorry." House took a seat opposite her and started eating his pancakes. "But I did take a look at his patient files. And there's a 7-year-old girl with leukemia she has no relatives. She died earlier this morning."

House pushed his food around, suddenly he wasn't so hungry anymore. How was he supposed to handle this? Nolan would probably just tell him to talk to Wilson, but that wasn't so easy, usually Wilson was the serious one in their friendship.

"House?" Cuddy said for the fourth time and finally getting his attention.

"Yeah" He said still not totally out of his thoughts.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" She could see the relieve on his face and his shoulders were relaxing again.

"Yeah," He whispered and took one of her tomatoes "but I'll go bowling with him tonight."

"That's a great idea. Or maybe to a bar, so he can throw a bottle through a window." House looked up at her in surprise "Yes he told me about that."

"I'm sure they have bottles at the bowling alley." He could hear her chuckled.

House started eating his by now cold pancakes. "Do you always eat breakfast here?" He asked after a while.

"No I had an early meeting so I got here at 7 only to find out that the meeting was cancelled."

"Yeah, I got up early too. There was no food in the fridge."

"Your wife didn't make you breakfast? That's unforgivable, you should file for divorce." She said with a smile.

"Oh shut up. Go talk to him."

An hour later House had been waiting outside Wilson's office door, he could hear Cuddy talking, but Wilson hadn't said much. He had tried to put his ear up against the door, but even that hadn't helped.

House hoped that Wilson wasn't crying the last time he had seen tears in his best friend's eyes, was after Amber's death. He shutters as he remembers that day that had nearly cost his friendship to Wilson.

That was why he was relieved when Cuddy offered to talk to Wilson, because he knew he would've said something stupid or hurtful and Wilson wouldn't be able to handle that right now. What if that would cause Wilson to end their friendship again? Yeah it was much better that Cuddy was talking to him.

He finally gave up and returned to his office. After another hour of actually doing his own paperwork, Cuddy knocked on his door before walking in and taking a seat opposite him.

"How did it go?"

"He's okay… he just needed to talk it through."

"Thank you for talking to for him."

Cuddy looked up at him in surprise "Did you just thank me?"

"I know that I would've said something wrong," He ignored her last comment and continued "I'm not good at comforting people, so it was good that you were there for him."

"Did you just compliment my caring personality?" Cuddy said again with surprise.

"Forget it…" House mumbled and stood up and limped to the elevator in a hurry. Why does she always react weirdly, when he opened up to her?

Cuddy caught up with him just as the elevator doors were closing again. Luckily they were the only ones in the elevator, so as soon as the elevator moved, Cuddy pressed the emergency-stop-button and turned towards him.

"I'm sorry… I'm just getting used to this 'new and more open House', and obviously I wasn't expecting you to say something so nice to me."

"Are you saying that you liked me better when I was a jerk and popping pills?" Anger flashed across his face.

"No," she said without hesitation and reached for his hand "I'm saying that we both have to work through some things." Hoping that he would understand she gave his hand a squeeze.

House let go of her hand and nodded. Cuddy was relieved and smiled while getting the elevator to move again. It reached the next floor and she was just about to step out, when his voice stopped her.

"Do you wanna join me and Wilson tonight?"

"I'd love to." She smiled again, glad that he had accepted what she had said.

"We'll pick you up at 8 and wear something nice." He smirked. Before she could answer him though, the elevator doors had already closed.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wow, what a bombshell the last episode was. This has made it very hard for me to continue writing this story. So if you're expecting something spectacular about this next chapter, don't get your hopes up too high, I'm just finding my rhythm again. I hope you understand…**

The bowling alley was filled with laughter, loud music and that special sound the bowling ball made when it hit the pins.

House and Wilson were both dressed in their bowling shirts, while Cuddy was wearing a purple t-shirt and some very tight fitting jeans, which made it very hard for House not to stare at her ass all the time.

After they had rented their shoes, Cuddy set off finding a bowling ball she could actually lift while Wilson went to order their drinks. And House was left alone with his thoughts, which were all about Wilson. He hadn't said a single word yet to House, all he had done was nod when House suggested they go out bowling with Cuddy. It was weird usually Wilson was the talker. A lot of things were turned upside down in their friendship today. Good that Cuddy was here with them.

Cuddy returned with an orange ball "You do know those are for the kids right?"

"I know. The other ones were too heavy."

"You're such a girl." He mumbled as she moved past him.

"Yes, I am. You have a problem with that?" Cuddy leaned forward to place her bowling ball next to his. House's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he had a nice view of her cleavage and her white bra, oh what he wouldn't give to have his nose buried in it.

"No problem at all." He whispered his eyes still on her breasts.

"Hey!" She waved her hands in front of him "Stop staring at my breasts."

"Stop wearing so revealing tops and I will." He countered and still staring.

"Yeah like that's gonna stop you. You've been staring at them for so many years, it's one of those habits you can't get rid of."

He stepped closer to her, they were nearly nose to nose. Her pupils dilated when she looked up at him. "Do you really mind that much?"

He watched in surprise as her cheeks turned at delighted rosy color. Even though he knew that she didn't mind he was even more happy when she shook her head. His eyes ran down to her lips and he nearly purred in pleasure when she moistened her lips with her tongue.

House leaned down even further finally ready to give her the kiss they both had been waiting for. His lips nearly reaching their destination when-

"Alright here are our drinks and I got you some chips as well, House." Wilson said not seeing the promising position his friends were in.

House sighed and rested his forehead against hers "Perfect timing" He then whispered regretfully.

Cuddy sighed as well "Come on let's bowl." She gave him a peck on his lips and left to help Wilson program the scoreboard.

This wasn't what House had in mind some seconds ago, but a peck was better than nothing. Now that he thought about it making out with Cuddy in front of Wilson wasn't how he wanted their first kiss to be. And he wasn't really here to woo Cuddy, he was here for Wilson.

"House you're up first." Wilson brought him out of his thoughts.

"Alright get ready to get asses kicked." He just said it to get Wilson and Cuddy to roll their eyes, especially Wilson would get a kick out of this, because both of him and House weren't any good at bowling.

Halfway through the game Cuddy was in the lead, she had a little more luck on her side than House and Wilson. But that didn't matter, because the three of them were having so much fun.

Wilson was back to his normal charming self having already scored the phone number of the insanely beautiful bartender. House was enjoying the view of Cuddy's ass and making a comment here and there about Wilson's girlish throw. And Cuddy was just enjoying the time with her two best friends.

Cuddy ended up winning the game twenty points ahead of House.

"So what do I get for winning?" She said after they had returned their bowling shoes.

"How about a beer? Wilson's paying of course." House suggested.

"He's not gonna pay. If anyone should pay it should be you House."

"Sorry, I forgot my wallet at home."

"Of course you did."

"Can we get the beer some other time? I'm pretty tired I haven't slept in nearly two days." Wilson stopped the couples bickering.

"Yeah sure…" Cuddy responded although disappointed, but she understood. "Next time House is paying for everything."

"Yeah like that's gonna happen. Shotgun!" House limped ahead of them making both of them smile.

"How are you doing?" Cuddy asked.

"I'm doing okay. It was a good idea House had."

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've had so much fun."

"Wilson open the damn doors I'm freezing my ass off!" House yelled from the car.

"Oh calm down, grandpa!" Wilson yelled back, making Cuddy laugh really loudly, while House looked shocked and got in the car after Wilson had unlocked the car with the button of his key.

"You're the grandpa, could you guys have walked any slower?"

"Alright mister cranky pants, let's get you home so you can get some sleep." Now Cuddy was the one to stop the bickering.

Wilson's car pulled into Cuddy's driveway.

"I'll see you tomorrow boys." She said before she got out of the car.

Wilson was just about to drive off again, when House suddenly got out of the car and hurried to Cuddy's front door, before she closed it.

"What are you doing?" He shouted after House.

House limped as fast as he could, forgetting all about the pain in his thigh.

"Cuddy" He said just as she was about to close the door.

"Hey… what are you doing here?" She stepped out again and waited for him to come closer.

"Just something I wanted to do ever since I came back from Mayfield." He said and took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. It took Cuddy by surprise and it took some time before she kissed him back just as tenderly.

Slowly his hands left her face, one of them on her neck feeling her pulse hammer away, his other hand ran down to her waist and pulled her closer to him.

They both moaned when their tongues finally met. This was how he wanted their first real kiss to be, sure Wilson would question him later, but that didn't matter at the moment.

Cuddy was the first to break the kiss, as she needed to fill her burning lungs with air. They held each other closely, Cuddy had her arms around his neck, so that their faces was still touching. House could feel her breathing against his chin.

"I'm coming over for dinner tomorrow night." House didn't ask, no he ordered. He didn't wait for her to answer and left her standing in front of her door with a silly little smile on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you for reading, reviewing and alerting. **

House had told Wilson about coming over for dinner at Cuddy's place and Wilson had said he thought it was a great idea. They had talked for a little while after they had gotten home yesterday and House was relieved that everything was okay and back to normal again.

Right now he was on his way over to Cuddy's. He hadn't seen her all day which surprised him, because he thought that Cuddy didn't think he was serious when he asked her yesterday. But he was very serious, this was his way of taking the next step. House also knew that she probably had some questions about Mayfield and it was going to be uncomfortable for him, but again it was a step and conversation he was willing to take.

Finally he pulled into her driveway and looked up the steps, God how he hated steps. Sometimes, actually quite a lot of times, he wished he was still taking the vicodin. But he was afraid, yes the great Gregory House was afraid, of ending up in Mayfield again.

When he reached the top, he thought about the last time he had come alone to her house, it was some nights after she had lost Joy. He had then thought he had been ready to start a relationship with her. But he then realized that the grounds on starting one with her would've been wrong. They were both, at the time, two screwed up people and he wouldn't have wanted a relationship build around each other's sadness.

And when he looked through the window now, he could see her sitting on her couch again. But this time it was different, she didn't have some papers from the hospital in her hands, no she had Rachel in her arms and they were both watching the TV, where some cartoon was playing.

It brought a smile to his face, this was how the living room of the Cuddy household should look like, mother and daughter laughing away to something on the TV. Another piece in the Cuddy puzzle had been put in its place and not a moment too soon.

He dragged his eyes away from the beautiful picture and limped to the door where he knocked with his cane of course.

It didn't take long before he heard Cuddy coming towards the door while singing to Rachel. He had never heard her sing before, she had a kind of smoky voice.

The door opened and he was greeted with two very big smiles.

"Hows" Rachel said and leaned forward her hands opening and closing wanting him to pick her up.

"Hi" Cuddy greeted him while laughing at her daughter. She wanted to hand Rachel over, but House stopped her. At first she was disappointed, but then he just took his jacket off and then he reached out for her. Rachel nearly jumped into his arms and Cuddy had to really hold her tightly.

He took her gently and Rachel placed her arms around his neck squeezing as strongly as her little body could.

"I don't think she's ever took a liking to someone so fast. She must really like you." Cuddy said in wonder.

"Most kids actually do like me…" By now they had moved to the dining room where House placed Rachel in her highchair.

"So how come you and Stacy never had any kids?" She yelled from the kitchen and then returned with a salad bowl.

"She wanted to become a partner in the firm first before even thinking about putting little ones into the world." Cuddy nodded and placed the bowl on the table and then she walked back to the kitchen.

He took a seat next to Rachel, who had kept a close eye on him and seemed satisfied that he was right next to her.

She returned again with two steaming plates balanced on her left hand and arm like a waitress and in her other hand she held a pink plastic plate.

"Please tell me pink one is for me…" Cuddy rolled her eyes at him and placed the pink plate in front of Rachel, who finally took her eyes off him and started eating her noodles with her fingers.

House took a look at his own plate and was surprised to see a piece of lasagna with meat in it and hers was of course without meat.

"I thought you only eat rabbit food?"

"No… I don't eat meat." She said as she took a seat opposite of him.

"Don't get all technical… I just thought no meat was allowed into your house." He took a careful bite and it was surprisingly tasteful. "Did you put poison in this? It does actually taste pretty good."

"Just because I'm a vegetarian doesn't mean I don't know how to cook meat." Cuddy stood up again and for a moment he thought that he had upset her, but just got up to put some salad on his plate.

"That's for my comment about rabbit food, isn't it?" All he got was a smile in return.

The rest of the dinner was finished in comfortable silence and with each of them occasionally helping to tangle the noodles out of Rachel's hair.

"I'm gonna give Rachel a bath… Make yourself at home. There's coffee in the cabinet above the coffee machine, if you want some." She said after she had carefully lifted Rachel up so she wouldn't get tomato sauce on her own clothes.

House was left alone with their plates still on the table, was this some kind of hint, he wondered. He took it as one and carried their plates to the kitchen, putting them in the dishwasher.

Twenty minutes later Cuddy still hadn't returned to the living room, so House stood up and limped to Rachel's room. The sight that greeted him made him stop in the doorway and watch. Cuddy was sitting in a rocking chair with Rachel in her arms while humming a soothing melody to get the little girl to sleep.

When she saw him she stopped humming and smiled softly, which he returned and gestured for her to continue. Cuddy nodded and hugged Rachel even tighter into her arms and started humming again. It even had a calming effect on House, as he could feel himself relax.

After a while she stopped again, but this time it was because Rachel had fallen asleep. She stood up carefully and laid Rachel in her crib. House felt as if he was intruding in a very private mother and daughter moment and limped back to the kitchen where he started making coffee.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I would also like to say that I'm deeply disappointed that Hugh Laurie isn't coming to Denmark to promote his album, I would've paid a lot of money to see him anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest.**

**Here's the next chapter…**

And that's where Cuddy found him, waiting by the kitchen counter for the coffee to finish.

"Sorry you had to wait so long." She said as she walked over to him. She opened the cabinet and took two red mugs out. Meanwhile House had limped over to the fridge getting the milk, knowing that she always had milk with her coffee.

"So what movie are we gonna watch?" He asked as he placed the milk in front of her. He also noticed that she had added some sugar in his mug.

"Well I don't have movies you would like. Most of them are dramas or romantic comedies." She smiled when she heard his groan.

House limped back to the living room and found, on a shelf which was mostly filled with books, but also had a small collection of DVD's. Next time he would bring one of his own collection, he thought as he scanned the titles. Then he noticed one that didn't fit.

"Is this yours?" He asked when she joined him with their mugs.

She looked at the cover "No… it must be Daniel's, that's my nephew."

"I'm starting to like him." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, you two would be impossible to control. He's always up to no good and driving my sister crazy."

"He really does sound like fun… We're watching this by the way."

"It's not a horror film, right? Because I hate those."

"No, it's harmless." He said as he put 'Signs' into the DVD-player. "But you may use me as your pillow to hide in."

He took a seat next to her, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

She patted his thigh "Shoes off" He sighed in annoyance, but did what he was told.

Halfway through the movie Cuddy was losing interest, the movie was just too weird for her. So instead she leaned closer to House.

"There's nothing happening, how can you be scared?" He said with a laugh, but put his arm around her anyway.

"I'm not scared, this is the most boring and weirdest movie ever." Cuddy snuggled closer to his warmth, but still felt a bit cold, so she reached behind her for the blanket and covered both of them.

"I'm actually not that cold." He said and looked down at her with an amused expression. He kept the blanket around them though and pulled her even closer to him, so she could rest her back against his chest.

"When you were at Mayfield," She felt him tense immediately "I had a dream where we were watching a movie and sitting just like this." House knew this was coming it still took him by surprise when she approached the subject. He knew though he just had to suck it up and for once in his life be serious and honest.

"Was it a good dream?"

"Yes it was. Whenever I worried about you, I you would think about this dream and I would be okay again."

"I'm sorry about the things I said in your office and then yelled from the balcony." He whispered and looked up at the ceiling, so she couldn't see how vulnerable he was feeling at the moment.

"No, I'm sorry for not seeing it sooner. I mean I knew you were taking more vicodin than a couple of years ago. And I-"

"Here comes the guilt again, just stop it right there." He cut her off "It wasn't your fault. I took that much vicodin, because I wanted to, you had nothing to do with it." He kept his eyes on the ceiling "I did that myself."

"I still think it was partly my fault, I knew Wilson kept writing you prescriptions."

"Why do you have to keep saying that, it _wasn't _your fault." He said again, but there was some anger in his voice at this point.

"Did you really think I wouldn't feel guilty?" She took his face in her hands and made him look at her. "Do you really think I wouldn't have cared what happened to you?"

He could see the tears forming in her eyes. "I didn't want you to worry about me." He mumbled and reached out slowly to cup her cheek and caressed it with his thump.

"I worried, because I cared." She whispered and leaned into his palm.

"I know" He leaned even closer and ended up placing his forehead on hers. Both of them had their eyes closed enjoying being this close to each other. Finally.

"I'm so glad you're back and better, because I still care." Cuddy said and turned fully towards him, so that her legs were on his thighs and her arms were around his neck.

"You're the one that made all the hard work worth it." She was surprised by his honest and very serious words, so she pulled him closer. His arms around her squeezed her just as much as she was.

He wasn't even embarrassed by what he had let slip, it was the truth. After he got back from Mayfield it looked like he had finally made the right decision and he promised himself he wasn't gonna run away from the happiness. He felt like he was finally ready for it.

At some point Cuddy's head had left his forehead and was now on his shoulder. House had his head on her shoulder, where he had buried his face in her soft curls. He realized that her scent had a very calming effect on him just like the humming had on him earlier.

Suddenly they could hear Rachel babbling on the baby monitor.

"Sorry… she probably needs her diaper changed." House let go of her. The movie had ended a long time ago as it had already switched back to the onscreen title menu, so he switched off the TV.

House limped to Rachel's room, but the door was closed already. Suddenly the door on his right opened and Cuddy came out of the bathroom.

"I should get back to Wilson's it's late and I know you get up early." He said and limped back to the front door.

"You don't have to go so soon." She had followed him and stood in front of him now.

"You know its midnight, right?" He liked that Cuddy had no idea what the time was, it meant that she had a good time.

"Really?" She took his arm so she could see the time and her eyes went wide, when she saw that he was right.

House took her hand before she could let go and pulled her into his arms, where he buried his face in the crook of her neck again.

"I don't want you to go." She whispered.

House looked down at her with a big smile, both of his hands began to wander down to her ass.

"Not for that, you pervert!" She slapped his chest when he began to laugh at the outraged expression on her face. "Would you like to stay the night?"

His face turned serious again "I'd love to." The smile he got in return was almost too much for him, all he wanted to do was crash his lips against hers and drag her to the bedroom and make her scream out his name. But he understood that maybe she was right and it was too soon for them to go down that road.

"Come on then."

They entered the room together, Cuddy continued to walk to the bathroom. House on the other hand let himself fall on the bed and sighed when he felt how soft her bed sheets were.

She came back 10 minutes later dressed in a black loose fitting tank top with some purple pajama pants. In his eyes there was nothing this woman couldn't wear and not look absolutely gorgeous.

"I left you a new toothbrush on the sink." House nodded and limped without his cane to the bathroom.

He was a little concerned, when he came back, that she was going to see his scar. Then he figured she was a doctor and had probably seen worse than his ugly leg and she had already seen it multiple times. It still felt different to him though.

He had already taken his shirt off and had decided to leave his t-shirt on. House sat down on the bed to take his jeans off, he nearly jumped off the bed when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't care about you leg House, I never did." She assured him and rubbed his tense shoulders.

Again she seemed to know what he needed to hear to relax. He leaned back a bit to give her more access to his shoulders. And with her focusing on his shoulders and back he took his pants off. That left him in his t-shirt and boxers.

"Just out of curiosity, how early are you getting up in the morning?" He asked in a very husky voice, her little backrub made him feel half asleep already.

"Well, normally I get up at 5, but I guess I can skip yoga tomorrow morning."

"You get up at 5?" House turned towards her and slipped under the covers. "What the hell for?"

"It's the only time I have to myself and the yoga helps me relax and start the day in a good mood." House nodded showing her that he understood, even though he didn't. He wouldn't get up that early, but he could understand that she felt the need to exercise, if he could he would still run in the morning. Instinctively his hand went to his thigh, even though it wasn't hurting at all.

"Is your leg okay?" She asked at once.

"Yeah fine… just thinking." He turned towards Cuddy "So at what time are you getting up tomorrow?" He asked with a little smile, which made her suspicious at once.

"I'm not gonna tell you, because I know you're gonna turn my alarm off." She chuckled when that got rid of his smile. Cuddy turned to turn the light off and soon as the room was dark she felt House snuggle closer, his chest against her back and his legs entwined with hers. She felt him smile when she placed her hand on top of his on her stomach lacing their fingers together.

He kissed her cheek and whispered "Night Cuddy"

"Goodnight House" She squeezed his hand.

It didn't take long for them to fall asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait... Thanks for staying with this little story, hope you like this chapter… anyway here goes!**

Cuddy woke to the buzzing of her alarm at 6 am instead of 5 am. House hadn't heard the alarm and she didn't expect him to, it was probably still the middle of the night after his internal clock.

She turned back towards him, he was lying on his back snoring softly dead to everything around him. He looked so peaceful almost like the young man she had once known back in Michigan.

Cuddy looked at the alarm again it was now 6:15, she needed to get up now so she could shower before Rachel would wake up. She turned again and got out of the bed slowly so House wouldn't wake up either, she didn't want to have to cranky kids around her today.

15 minutes later she had showered and was dressed in a black blouse and a red skirt, she was just about to put on the matching red jacket when she heard Rachel talking to herself on the baby monitor. She took the monitor with her and took one last look at House, before her morning officially started.

30 minutes later after feeding Rachel, Cuddy went to her bedroom again. House was still asleep, but he had turned and was now lying on his stomach with his head on her pillow.

"Hows" Rachel said as soon as she saw him.

"Yeah let's wake him up."

She sat Rachel down on the bed, who immediately crawled over to him. When she got closer though, she stopped and just sat watching him sleep. This wasn't what Cuddy had in mind, she wanted Rachel to wake him up, but apparently her daughter was fine with letting him sleep.

Then suddenly he started snoring again and Rachel laughed. He probably reminded her of the snoring teddy bear in her crib, it was one of her favorite toys.

Cuddy took a seat at the edge of the bed, House's face was turned to her, she started to slowly stroke his back, but he didn't wake up he just stopped snoring. So Cuddy started to shake his shoulder and that seemed to have the desired effect, because his breathing changed.

"House… wake up." She whispered.

"Don't wanna" He mumbled back and pulled the sheet over his head.

When Rachel heard him her eyes lit up and she crawled over right next to his head, where she pulled on the sheet. House was startled by the fact that there was someone else on the bed.

Cuddy chuckled "A little jumpy this morning, aren't you?"

"I thought it was your tiny hand. It was like a scene from a horror film." She laughed even more "Shut up…" He mumbled.

Suddenly he felt the tiny hand on his arm again, but this time he didn't jump up instead he looked down at the little girl. Rachel greeted him with those big brown eyes and it was very hard for him not to return that big smile she threw at him as well.

"You're both early birds, aren't you?" He directed that question at Rachel and she began to giggle. It amazed him that just a simple thing as talking and paying attention to her was enough to make her smile.

"So why did you wake me at…" He looked over at the alarm "7:15?"

"Well I do have to be at work in an hour and I thought we could have breakfast together." Cuddy reached out and took his hand lacing their fingers together.

House looked at their hands with an amused expression. He liked the relaxed Cuddy way better than the-stressed-and-always-nagging-him-for-more-clinic-duty Cuddy at work. It was nice to see a side of her he hadn't seen since he can't remember when, but probably since med school.

"Sure, you make the coffee and I'll make the pancakes."

Cuddy smiled and left together with Rachel so House could get dressed. When he joined them in the kitchen there already was a cup of coffee waiting for him, which he limped over to.

"I just took the last of the milk, so there isn't anything to make pancakes with. We'll just have to eat bagels, I hope that's okay?"

"Yeah sure" Rachel was already seated in her highchair eating a banana cut up in smaller pieces, getting it everywhere including her hair. What was it with her and twirling her hair while eating?

"I don't know why she does that either." Cuddy said reading his mind and gave him a plate with a bagel and cream cheese. House smiled at the bagel, she knew what he liked on his breakfast bagel. He was also doing his best to ignore how like an old married couple they were acting, he was going to enjoy this moment he promised himself.

And House did enjoy their breakfast, he laughed at Rachel when she showered herself in orange juice, because Cuddy hadn't closed the sippycup properly. He took pity on her though and changed Rachel for her. And Cuddy couldn't stop thanking him, it wasn't that big a deal he was gonna go home and change anyway.

At 8 somebody knocked on the front and then opened it with a key.

"That's Marina." Cuddy explained to him.

"Good morning Marina." She greeted the nanny. Marina turned out to be in her late thirties, maybe even the same age as Cuddy.

Marina nodded at him and looked him up and down, not in a sexual way, but in a motherly way trying to figure out if he was good enough for Cuddy and Rachel. She eyed him some more seconds and then she smiled satisfied by what she had seen in his eyes.

"Hi, I'm Marina." She said in a thick South American accent, he guessed Columbian.

"This is Greg House a friend and colleague of mine." Cuddy introduced him.

They shook hands and then Marina walked over to Rachel who was sitting in the middle of the living room surrounded by toys. Currently she was playing with a teddy bear that snored when you squeezed its tummy, she laughed every time it started to snore.

"She also laughed when you snored this morning." Cuddy informed him.

"I don't snore." He couldn't keep the smile from forming on his face though.

"Yeah right!"

"Come on we have to go to work."

"You're full of bad excuses today." She walked back to the kitchen to get her purse and to fill two travel mugs with coffee. She handed one mug to House who took it gratefully.

"I'll see you later Marina." She waved at Rachel and the little girl waved back before turning back to her toys.

House opened the front door and held it opened for Cuddy. When they reached his car he turned to face her.

"Thanks for the coffee."

"Is that all you're gonna say?" She smiled slightly.

House chuckled "I don't know."

Cuddy chuckled as well and took his mug out if his hand and placed both mugs on the roof of his car.

"How about 'I had fun last night' or 'It was nice sharing a bed with you'?" She turned it into a little game hoping she could make this situation a little less awkward.

"Okay," He leaned back against the car and Cuddy stepped into his personal space. "what about this, do you wanna have dinner with me tonight?"

"Are we going out or are we staying in?"

House placed his hands on her waist pulling her against him. "Staying in of course, I'm gonna cook." Her eyes lit up she had heard about his cooking. "You could still wear something nice though." He said as an afterthought.

"Only if you wear a tie." She wrapped her arms around his neck, their faces only inches apart.

"Nah, your ass looks better in jeans anyway."

He leaned down slowly and just before their lips met she said "So does yours."

House smiled and their lips met in a tender kiss that held the promise that they were at the beginning of something wonderful.

Eventually they ended the kiss to fill their burning lungs with air. House hugged her to him laying his head on her shoulder, he closed his eyes as her scent filled his nostrils again.

"I should get going, before my boss complains that I'm late." He whispered.

"I'm sure she does that a lot."

"Well somebody had to keep her on her toes." He smirked when she chuckled.

"I'll see you later House."

"Later Cuddles…" He stared at her fine skirt clad ass as she walked to her car in the garage.

On the way back to Wilson's apartment he thought about what he was gonna cook for Cuddy.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm glad that you're enjoying this idea of mine… anyway here's the next chapter.**

When House got to work Cuddy was waiting for him with a case-file in her hands.

"Can't get enough of me, Dr. Cuddy?" He greeted her with a big smile and took the file from her. They walked together to the elevator. He hoped they would be alone, because it looked like he had to reschedule their dinner of at least him cooking for her.

"Looks like we have to cancel dinner?" She said when they were in the elevator.

"We don't have to."

"I don't want you distracted."

House pushed the emergency-stop button and took a step closer to her pinning her in one corner, so she couldn't get the elevator moving again.

"Who says I'm distracted?" His eyes were boring into hers.

"I would say you are right now." But she didn't seem to care that much though as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He enjoyed the feeling of her fingertips running softly through his hair.

"I meant that I could just come over to your place later and we could order some pizza instead."

"I was looking forward to taste your cooking." She said disappointed.

"The world doesn't end tomorrow." He kissed her soft lips, but when she tried to deepen the kiss he pulled away. "I thought you didn't want me distracted."

Cuddy chuckled and unwrapped her arms from his neck and slipped past him to push the emergency-stop button again.

When the elevator stopped at his floor, he got off but turned towards her before the door could slide close again.

"So I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing plenty of meat on your pizza, right?" House nodded and smiled. At least he was starting the day in a good mood.

The patient proved to be quite interesting. They had tested for everything he could think of. Right now he had the patient on some meds that needed at least 24 hours to work. So he had told everyone but Chase, who would stay to monitor the patient, to go home and get some sleep.

By now it was already 8:30 and he had called Cuddy to say he was coming over he had stopped by his place to get some clean clothes for tomorrow.

When he turned the bike's engine off, he could see Cuddy waiting by the door.

"Hey… did you order yet?" He was really hungry, he hadn't had time to eat lunch today.

"Yeah, it should be here in 10 minutes. How's the patient doing?"

They walked to the living room where Cuddy already had two glasses of wine waiting for them. House spend the next 10 minutes updating Cuddy on the patient. They came up with several new ideas for House to try out tomorrow.

The pizzas arrived when Cuddy was in the bathroom, which left him to pay for their dinner.

"Wow, I didn't even now you had a wallet." She said from behind him. The delivery boy smiled and House closed the door in his face without giving him a tip.

"Don't worry its Wilson's." He returned without missing a beat.

House sat the pizza boxes on the coffee table, Cuddy came from the kitchen carrying two plates and handed him a knife and a fork.

"Okay, let me explain the whole idea behind take-out dinner. The point is you don't need any plates and cutlery. Why else would they cut the pizza in slices or give you chopsticks when you order Chinese?"

"You've certainly given this a lot of thought. I just don't want you ruining my furniture with your greasy pizza fingers."

"How old do you think I am? Five?" Cuddy smiled. "Don't answer that." House opened one of the boxes, which turned out to be Cuddy's veggie pizza. "Another thing about take-out is that there should _always _be meat on your pizza."

"If I let you eat on my couch will you shut up about lecture of take-out 101?"

"Yeah" He said with a smile. He was glad that he didn't have to eat pizza while balancing a plate on his lap. He would look like a complete idiot.

"Good. I already picked a movie." She said and pressed play. The opening credits of _Message In A Bottle _appeared on the TV.

House groaned and muttered "Welcome to hell."

When they both were done with their pizza's House was the one that cleaned the mess up. He figured that way he could stay awake the rest of the movie.

When he came back to the living room he sat down next to Cuddy, who snuggled up against his side and wrapped her left arm around his midsection.

They enjoyed the rest of the movie together. Or Cuddy did, House enjoyed having her close to him and his arms around her. If people found him snuggling with Cuddy they would think, they were looking at his nicer twin. But he couldn't keep his hands off Cuddy and who could really blame him?

Some time later they both got ready for bed, standing next to each other in the bathroom while brushing their teeth.

About an hour later when House still was awake, he admires Cuddy's beautiful face while she sleeps. He thought about the time they had spent together, it was a little weird that they were sleeping in the same bed and hadn't had sex yet. But he liked that they were slowly developing their friendship into something much more important and meaningful.

God he sounded like a soft teddy bear stuffed by grandma. No he sounded like Wilson which was even worse. But then he looked down at his gorgeous Cuddy… maybe a soft spot wasn't so bad after all.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews, keep 'em coming;-) **

**Well, this chapter was very hard to finish due to the sad news of Lisa Edelstein leaving the show. It's still hard to believe, but she has every right to leave, I wish her all the best for the future. House is not gonna be the same without her!**

**I also think it's going to be interesting what the writers are going to come up with and for that reason I'm actually going to be looking forward to the next season… Anyway that's my opinion you may think something else. **

**Enjoy the next chapter…**

It was still the middle of the night when House thought he heard a weird sound. It took him some time to figure out that it was Cuddy's cell phone. Who was calling her at 2:30 in the morning?

Cuddy stirred beside him groaning when she realized it was her phone. She blindly reached for it on the nightstand.

"Dr. Cuddy speaking…" She answered in a very sleepy voice.

"What?" She sat up in bed, waking her and House fully up. "How did that happen? House was nowhere near the MRI machine." House smiled as he listened to Cuddy, glad that he wasn't the only one that could get her this mad.

"So tell me who I have to fire?" She asked as she was getting dressed. "Okay, I'll be there in 20 minutes." She groaned as she put her shoes on.

"So Cuddles…" His smiled was bigger than she had ever seen before "who are you firing?"

"I'm not gonna tell you. You'll hear the gossip in the morning." She walked out to the hall.

"Whoa… you're just gonna leave me here all excited?" He followed her "And what about Rachel?"

She turned back in his direction again smiling and walking towards him swaying her hips. "If I tell you, will you watch Rachel until Marina gets here?"

House was so mesmerized and so focused on her hips that he just nodded to get her closer to him. But as soon as she saw his nod she was out of the door before he could even blink an eye.

"This means war." House muttered in the empty hallway. He checked on Rachel one last time before he went back to bed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

House groaned when he heard Cuddy's home phone ringing right beside him. He never should've rolled over to her side, he thought with another groan as he reached out so he could get the ringing to stop. Sadly for him though instead of pressing the red button he pressed the green button.

"Hello? Dr. Cuddy?" He could hear the South American accent clearly even through his still half asleep brain. It was Marina and for her calling this early couldn't be a good thing, he thought to himself and picked up the phone with a sigh.

And it really wasn't a good thing, because it turned out she had a cold and wouldn't be able to come to work today. He could hear in her voice that she really didn't sound good, so he told her to stay in bed.

With another sigh he got out of bed so he could shower before Rachel would wake up. He also decided not to call Cuddy, because he didn't want her to worry. She would probably be so worried that she would end up coming home in panic. No, he didn't think he could handle that much drama so early in the morning. She had her own MRI drama to deal with.

So after he had showered and dressed he limped to the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. Now all he could do was wait for Rachel to wake up.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

House entered PPTH at nine o'clock he had Rachel on his left hip. The doctors and nurses stopped and stared, wondering what he was doing with Dr. Cuddy's daughter. House ignored them though limping as fast as he could to Cuddy's office.

He could see her talking to someone on the phone while she was typing on her laptop. House decided to stop this madness, why would someone spend so many hours on paperwork? He never really understood how Cuddy liked that part of her job.

He entered her office like he usually did, without knocking.

Cuddy continued talking on the phone. Rachel smiled though when she noticed her mummy, House let her down so she could walk over to Cuddy herself. It amazed him how much better she was getting at it already, in a couple of weeks she could probably walk faster than him.

"House, what are you doing here with Rachel?" Cuddy asked pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Marina called she had a nasty cold, I told her to stay in bed." He said as he took a seat on the couch.

"Well you should've called me, cos I can't watch her I have a meeting in 15 minutes."

"That's fine I have a team for a reason, you know. Is the meeting about the MRI incident?"

"I don't understand, why didn't you call me? I have a stand-in babysitter just in case marina gets sick." She ignored his other question completely.

"I didn't want you to have more stress this morning." Cuddy looked up at him. He looked a little tired and she noticed something that looked like oatmeal on his pants. He had obviously taken really good care of Rachel.

She walked over to him and took a seat next to him. They watched as Rachel walked over to them with a big smile. And to her surprise the little girl walked to House and climbed up the couch and made herself comfortable next to him.

"It's nice of you that you didn't want me to worry, but next time just call me okay?"

"Alright… I just wanted to help." She could see the hurt in his eyes. It was a little weird that the House she knew seemed to be bothered by this.

"I know and it was very sweet of you. Thank you." She kissed his cheek and smiled, the hurt in his eyes was gone as well. "The meeting is about that yes. I'll tell you later though and don't believe the gossip Chase is gonna tell you…"

"I'm not sweet… It's a good thing the door is closed otherwise you would've been in big trouble." He patted her thigh and stood up. He took Rachel in his arms again. "I'll let you get back to work. We'll see you at lunch."

Rachel waved at her and smiled up at House as he glared the clinic staff which stared at them with wide open mouths. Again.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Say hello to our new team member." House said as he entered the conference room with Rachel in his arms.

He never had seen his team so surprised, even Foreman couldn't keep his cool expression.

"Oh come on, have you guys never seen a toddler before?"

"Don't they look silly, Rachel?" She smiled and giggled agreeing with him. Oh, how he loved that he could still surprise the hell out of the people around him. His good mood was coming back at full force again.

"Does Dr. Cuddy know you've kidnapped her daughter?" Of course Taub was the one to ask the obvious question.

"I just found her in front of my apartment, can you believe it?"

"So the rumors are true then? You and Cuddy are dating?" The Australian gossip queen asked after the usual eye roll at House's comment.

House threw his car keys at him and said "Be a good little duckling and get the duffle-bag out of my car." With another eye roll Chase got up and left the office.

House turned towards the other two ducklings which hadn't said anything yet. Foreman still seemed to be in shock. Whereas Thirteen had a smile on her face. She stood up and walked over to them.

"Hello Rachel. How are you? Are you having fun with House?" The girl nodded enthusiastically.

Thirteen looked back up at him and shrugged "What? I like kids." He let her take Rachel from his arms and limped to his office, Thirteen following him.

"So what is she really doing here with you?"

"The nanny got sick, so I took her with me." She let Rachel down, who immediately began to explore the interesting gadgets on his desk. House handed 'Bally' to her.

"So you really are dating Cuddy, aren't you?" Thirteen smiled "You don't have to answer. You bringing Rachel here is enough."

House nodded and smiled when Rachel rolled the ball towards him.

Chase entered the office again with the bag "So what's in here that's so damn important?"

House dug out several Tupperware boxes and handed them to Chase. "Put that in the fridge, that's Rachel's lunch."

Thirteen smirked as she watched Chase do what his boss told him. Yes, she thought, today was going to be a fun and interesting day at the department of diagnostics.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews. **

**I know it's a little short, but I wanted to update before the season finale…**

* * *

The rumors about House dating his boss spread through the hospital in record time. House had never seen so many people walk past his office in one hour, at least no one had the courage to ask him any questions. Lucky for him though he could just close the curtains, now the only thing people could hear was Rachel's occasional laugh through the glass walls.

At 11 o'clock there was a knock on his office door. House smiled when Rachel was the first to react and started to walk to the door.

"House it's me open up." He heard Cuddy's voice.

When Cuddy stepped into the office she was surprised to see Rachel's toys in his office.

"How did her toys get here?"

"Well I put them in something called a bag and then I put it in my car and drove the car along with your daughter to work this morning." Cuddy rolled her eyes which made Rachel laugh. "See even Rachel thinks it was a silly question."

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Why did you lock the door?" She asked as she took a seat on the footstool of his Eames chair.

"We felt like lions."

"What?"

"People walked by here like they were looking at some animal at the zoo."

They both watched Rachel while they were talking. The little girl hadn't played much with her own toys, she had mostly played with Bally and House had entertained her with his juggling balls.

"You still owe me, you know?" House said suddenly while sitting on the floor building a tower with some blocks. Rachel walked over to him immediately and sat next to him watching him in awe.

"No I don't, you chose to bring Rachel here."

Rachel tried building a tower as well, but she only had three blocks. Cuddy smiled when she could see the evil plans form in her daughter's eyes.

With very quick hands Rachel took a red block from the middle of House's tower, it made a loud noise as the tower collapsed.

"Hey, you cheeky monkey!" He said as Rachel clapped her hands together after she had put the red block on her own tower. "Well aren't you a clever little monkey."

"M'key…" She tried saying. With remorse about what she had done she continued building her own tower.

House looked back up at Cuddy who had that dreamy smile on her face again. It felt great to see her smile like this at work for a change.

"She knows how to handle you."

"Yeah and you don't. So who'd you fire?" His curiosity finally getting the better of him.

"Well Dr. Smith apparently thought a first year med student had a better knowledge of the MRI machine than the MRI technician."

"Let me guess that student was a c-cup?" He asked while he helped Rachel build her tower.

"How did you know?"

"He takes his wedding ring off as soon as he enters the hospital in the morning."

She was amazed by his attention to detail about other people he didn't even know. But then again that was one of the reasons why she had hired him all those years ago.

House was still playing with the blocks, while Rachel had taken Bally again and was letting it roll around in his office laughing until it stopped.

"You let her play with your precious toy, I'm surprised."

"She lets me play with hers, it's only fair." The ball rolled towards his tower and it collapsed again. Cuddy and Rachel were both laughing. "I see the Cuddy women are out to get me."

"I'll come back in an hour… Bye Rachel."

"Bye-bye Mama."

"Can you bring me a ruben from the cafeteria when you come back?"

"Sure. See you later." House nodded and locked the door after her.

* * *

He sat down in his Eames chair and watched Rachel. It amazed him that she had so much energy. Even though he had three cups of coffee already today, he was tired as hell.

Or maybe she was a little tired, he thought as he noticed a little cute yawn slip past her lips.

"Rachel are you hungry?" Rachel nodded and dropped the ball by the blocks. "Come on let's see what the ducklings are doing?" She grabbed his hand and together they walked to the conference room.

The room turned out to be empty. "Well, looks like it's just the two of us." He lifted Rachel onto the chair. "Okay let's see where Chase put your lunch."

Rachel kept her eyes on him the whole time, listening intently as he told her about his ducklings and some of his cases, while he was heating the pasta dish in the microwave. Yes, he knew she didn't understand a single word he said, but it was nice to have somebody who just listened and not lectured him.

After he had fed her the pasta he had to clean her before he could let her loose again.

Some minutes later Cuddy entered the room with a tray from the cafeteria. One ruben for him and a salad for her.

The lunch was spent in pleasant conversation. Cuddy asked what they had been doing all day and House asked if the staff still walked by his office.

"So should we tell HR that we are more than friends or do you want to wait?" He asked as he waited for her to finish her lunch.

"Well you haven't actually taken me out on a date yet?"

"Right, I've just been sleeping in your bed these past days." He said and leaned forward a bit.

"How can we be dating if we haven't even been on a date yet?" She repeated.

"That's a very good point…" He said thoughtfully. "Do you wanna go on a date tonight?" House asked as he fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt.

Cuddy laid her hand on his and smiled when his eyes met her. "I'd love to."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thank you to everybody who reviewed, read and put this story on their alerts! I'm sorry it took me so long to update…**

* * *

House took a last look in the mirror, before leaving what was probably going to be his most important date ever. He had actually carefully chosen what he was wearing tonight. He had after some serious consideration pulled on the sky-blue shirt, Cuddy had one told him that it made him almost look nice, which sounded perfect to his ears. With the shirt he was wearing a pair of black jeans, which he had bought today. And the woman in the store had said it made his behind look really good and as a result of that he had tucked his shirt in so Cuddy could get a clear view of said behind.

He had told Cuddy to wear something casual yet nice, but he hadn't told her where they were going.

So at 8 o'clock he stood in front of Cuddy's door and knocked with the tip of his cane.

Cuddy opened and nobody said anything for the longest time. They were both taking in what the other was wearing in open mouthed shock.

She was wearing some very tight fitting blue jeans, which made her thighs look amazing. Patty and Selma were contained in a purple v-neck sweater, this was way better than her work clothes. Even her face looked better, she wasn't wearing so much make-up and it somehow made her look younger. He couldn't wait to see what her ass looked like in those jeans though.

Cuddy finally came to her senses, "I'll just say bye to Rachel and the sitter and then I'm ready to go."

House thought he had died and gone to heaven, when he saw her backside. The way her gorgeous ass swayed from side to side was just a work of art. He should come up with a name for her ass, he thought to himself.

"So where are we going?" She asked when they were in his car driving out of Princeton.

"You'll just wait and see." He said while smirking.

* * *

"Mini-golf?" She said when she saw where House had pulled into the parking lot.

"Yep… don't look so outraged it was either that or go-karts."

"Well I guess this is better than go-karts."

They entered the lot and Cuddy was surprised by how many grown-up couples she saw.

After House had paid they had to wait until it was their turn.

"Let's turn this into a game, shall we?"

"In case you hadn't noticed mini-golf already is a game." House said but was interested nonetheless.

"When you lose, and believe me you will, you have to pay for my lunch for a whole week."

"And when I win you're gonna ride on my bike with me."

"Deal…" They shook on it and started playing on the 18-hole course. He was a little nervous of losing. For her to bet against him, must mean she had done this before and was good at it. But he had been quite the golfer before his infarction and although he hadn't held a golf club in his hand, he hoped he still had it in him.

Throughout the game they each tried to bring the other off track. House would make an inappropriate comment every once in a while to embarrass her in front of people around them.

Cuddy on the other hand was using her body to distract him. She almost had him when she had to bend over to pick up the piece of paper where they kept the scores on.

And now they were at the last hole and House was in front, he had one point less than Cuddy. Right now his ball was about 8 inches away from the hole. He was already smirking in victory picturing him and Cuddy taking a ride on his bike in matching leather jackets.

Just as the golf club was about to hit the ball a kid ran along past them nearly slamming into him. The club hit the ball and missed the hole completely rolling even further away.

House scowled at Cuddy when she laughed.

Now House had to concentrate to end the game and hopefully it would end in a fair draw.

Just as he was about to hit the ball Cuddy unleashed her last secret weapon. "Are those pants new? Your ass looks really good in them."

And just like that he had lost the game. He hit the ball so hard it landed somewhere near the restrooms. House was so shocked he stood and watched as Cuddy completed their game with a hole-in-one.

"You cheated!" He suddenly accused her. Some of the people smiling in Cuddy's direction.

"I did no such thing."

"Yes you did. You probably paid that kid to run past here." He stepped closer to her. "And to comment on my ass, that's just low."

"Yeah like you played by the rules. You asked me at the tenth hole if I wanted to taste your sausage, only you didn't have one."

He couldn't stop the full blown smile. "This was fun… and good game by the way." They shook hands again and House gave Cuddy a kiss on the cheek. "You were actually pretty good, better than I expected."

"My dad used to take me and my sister mini-golfing every summer. It was one of the few things we did together as a family." There was a bit of a sad tone in her voice. So she had a screwed up relationship with her family, interesting he thought, but maybe not something to talk about on their first real date.

"Wilson and I used to golf before my infarction, so I thought I would easily win but I was wrong."

"Yes you were." Was all she said.

"So, now what? Have you eaten?"

"I did have a snack before we left, but I guess I could eat something."

"What about some pizza?"

"Okay…" She took his hand lacing their fingers together and House squeezed her hand. Normally he would've been embarrassed by this, but for some reason it just felt so wonderful and right to have her hand in his.

House drove back to Princeton still holding onto her hand. 20 minutes later they pulled up in front of a small Italian restaurant. As it was after 9 they had no problem with getting a table. They found a booth and sat next to each other.

"I can't believe I'm sitting next to someone who just ordered broccoli on their pizza." He said and reached out to take her hand again. He liked the way her eyes seemed to sparkle every time he took her hand.

"And I can't believe I'm sitting next to someone who lost to a girl."

"Alright alright… I'll stop nagging you about being a vegetarian."

"Thank you." She gave him a lingering kiss on his cheek and scooted closer to him.

"You know," He whispered "We could always take the pizza home."

"I'm actually pretty hungry… and I can see in your eyes that what you have in mind doesn't involve eating pizza." She smiled when she heard him release a tiny whimper she did let him put his hand on her thigh though.

They ate their slices of pizza in silence. House even tasted hers and it wasn't that bad, but he wouldn't tell her that, instead he pulled a face when he had swallowed the piece.

* * *

They returned back to Cuddy's at 10:30 where Cuddy paid the babysitter, while she was doing that House checked on Rachel. He had actually missed his new best friend, who was sleeping peacefully in her crib holding a teddy bear tightly to her chest.

"Is she still asleep?"

"Yeah…" House whispered and looked down at the floor embarrassed that Cuddy had caught him red handed.

Suddenly he felt her hand on his back, she waited for him to turn around before she said, "Don't be embarrassed, I find it extremely sexy."

House smiled and kissed her forehead lingered for a second, then he kissed the tip of her nose which made Cuddy giggle. He stopped his exploration when he heard the giggle and smiled when he noticed the light blush on her cheeks.

He leaned down again and whispered, "Don't be embarrassed, I find it extremely sexy."

House kissed her lips and moaned when he felt how soft they were. When he felt her tongue on his upper lip he opened his mouth right away. Their tongues started fighting for dominance. His cane long forgotten on the floor as his hands explored her back and shoulders.

The kiss soon turned into a tender and gentle kiss and then stopped all together when they both had trouble breathing.

Cuddy was the first to speak. "Let's continue this in the bedroom." She took his hand and led him there.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read this. And thank you for the kind reviews.**

**Now, I would just like to say that this chapter is rated M… I haven't done an M rated chapter in a long time and let me tell you I'm not a 100% satisfied with this chapter, but I'm being brave or maybe a bit crazy, I'm posting it anyway…**

**Also, you can find me on twitter now, just search for **_**superboetti…**_

**Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

House closed the door after them and Cuddy led him to the bed, she gently pushed him down making him sit on the bed. Cuddy stepped between his legs and he embraced her resting his head on her stomach. His arms around her body breathing in that special jasmine body lotion he knew Cuddy used. It is his favorite scent in the whole world and it would always be something he would relate to Cuddy.

House pulled Cuddy down so she straddled his lap. "Your leg?" She gasped.

House pulled her closer "The last thing on my mind right now is my leg…" He whispered.

Their lips crashed together, Cuddy moaned when she felt a part of his body rise to the occasion. Slowly he lifted her sweater up and was surprised when he felt nothing but skin. "Oh my God, you're not wearing a bra…" He whispered in fascination.

Cuddy just smiled and started unbuttoning his shirt her lips never leaving his mouth, but she there were just so many buttons, so in the end she just ripped it a part.

"Impatient, are we?" His hands slipped into the back of her jeans and again he was in for a surprise. "You're not wearing any underwear." He said with a groan and squeezed her ass pulling her impossibly closer.

By now he was painfully hard, he needed to get out of his pants. He had no idea Cuddy could be so bold, and how had he not noticed that she was going commando? He should've told her to wear a skirt.

He felt Cuddy's hands pulling his shirt off, both of them were craving the skin on skin contact. It didn't take long for them to get rid of the rest of their clothes, who took of what they didn't know and it didn't matter.

Now they were lying next to each other kissing while their hands explored the others body. He was driving Cuddy crazy, each time he would come close to her clit and then he would find somewhere else to keep his hands busy with. She had released a couple of whimpers and she could feel House smile, he knew exactly what he was doing. Was it possible to have an orgasm just from the anticipation? She wondered.

He couldn't believe it, here he was with possibly the sexiest woman on the planet and he was ready to burst any second now just from touching and kissing her. And from the whimpers and the wetness Cuddy was releasing she was just as ready as he was.

"Are you ready?" He asked as he rolled on top of her bracing most of his weight on his forearms.

"Yes and so are you…" She rolled her hips against him, the tip of his cock brushing against her waiting center making them both gasp.

Cuddy took his cock in her hand guiding him to her entrance, she was a little worried it would hurt but House was surprisingly gentle.

He inched forward slowly filling her to the hilt, letting her get used to his size. He loved the gasps he heard coming from her, it felt like heaven being inside of her like a second set of skin. House was afraid that if he looked down at her right now he would cum. So he buried his face in her neck letting her scent calm him down, he wanted this to last longer than a couple of seconds.

House kissed her collarbone enjoying the taste of her right there. He moved down slowly kissing the valley between her breasts. When he kissed her nipple she gasped again and rolled her hips causing him to gasp as well.

He pulled almost all the way out just the head of his cock staying inside of her. He kissed her nipple and heard her gasp again. House lifted himself up letting his hands keep all of his weight. He looked down at her for the first time and he had never seen such beauty before, her pupils were dilated like she was on the biggest rush of her life. There also was a glow around her that he couldn't quite explain.

He gave her one last kiss before plunging hard and deep back inside of her.

"Oh God House!" She moaned loudly her eyes rolling into the back of her head, her legs clung to him as her inner walls squeezed him as she experienced her orgasm. House groaned loudly trying with everything inside of him not to let his own release go.

House started rocking his hips again letting her ride out her orgasm, while Cuddy tried to get her breathing under control again.

When Cuddy opened her eyes again, he greeted her with a smile. His eyes had turned a dark blue she couldn't identify the only thing she could see was lust.

House turned them over, he was starting to feel some pain in his leg, which was the last thing he wanted right now.

Cuddy gasped in surprise, suddenly she was on top, how did that happen she wondered, her brain was still a little fuzzy from the amazing orgasm she just had.

She started rotating her hips "God, you're killing me Cuddy…" He said with a groan throwing his head back against the pillow. "This is not gonna last long."

"That's okay, I'm close as well…" Each of those words was said with a nibble along his neck, when she found a particular spot right behind his ear he gasped and thrust his hips up.

Cuddy started riding him in a fast pace, they both couldn't keep their eyes open anymore. His fingers found her clit pinching it gently. House felt her inner walls squeeze again and this time he couldn't stop the groan that came from deep inside of him as he filled her with his warm seed.

They came at the same time, keeping their rhythm up for as long as possible before Cuddy collapsed on top of him. They were both panting for some air, that their lungs so desperately needed.

House was the first to speak "I…" His voice was still out of breath. "Wow…"

Cuddy lifted her head up from his shoulder. "Don't think I've ever seen you speechless before…" She said while cupping his cheek and smiling down at him tenderly.

They both felt House's cock slip out of her and Cuddy felt a bit empty. He seemed to feel the same as he pulled her back down against him again her whole body covered his.

He rolled them over to the left side, letting her left leg stay wrapped around his waist.

"Oh I almost forgot…" He smacked her ass pretty hard leaving it tingling in pain.

"What the hell did you do that for?" She gasped and tried rubbing the pain away but House wouldn't let her.

"You were being a naughty girl…" He rubbed her pain away he loved the fact that she probably would have a nice red spot there tomorrow. "You should've told me you weren't wearing any underwear, I would've let you win the mini golf game sooner." He returned with a smug smile.

* * *

The next morning Cuddy woke up, when she heard Rachel's voice talking on the baby monitor. Although it was amazing that she hadn't been awake for longer, because of the loud snoring coming from House behind her. He was spooning her and had his arms around her keeping her warm, since the sheet only covered them from the waist down.

Cuddy tried to entangle herself from him, but in his sleep he tightened his hold on her. She smiled and settled back against him, his snoring had stopped as well.

She was almost asleep again when he mumbled. "You should go get her, before she starts screaming."

Cuddy sighed "Okay, but you better wear some boxers when I come back." She walked over to her closet, knowing that he was watching her. She pulled on some panties and a PPTH t-shirt.

"I liked you better when you weren't wearing any underwear!" He yelled after her as she left the room. House sat up trying to locate his boxers. He found them on the dresser, how did they get there? He wondered.

When Cuddy came back to the bedroom it was empty, she heard him walking around in the kitchen. She found him making coffee for the both of them, still only wearing his boxers.

Cuddy let Rachel down, the girl ran over to him as best and wobbly as she could. Her arms open wide while she laughed and squealed all the way over to him. House smiled, he was actually happy to see the cute little girl. He had already decided that the next time he and Cuddy went out they would do something with Rachel.

They had quite breakfast together and when Marina came at 8 o'clock, she blushed when she noticed House was only wearing his boxers. He apologized to her in Spanish.

"Are you going to work today?" Cuddy asked since it was Saturday. They had just showered together and were now getting dressed.

"Yeah I still have that patient. The test should be coming in today." He said while buttoning his shirt up. "Do you have one of my t-shirts here? I can't wear this…" He showed her his shirt only one button was still in tact.

"I did that?" She gasped on shock. "Yeah I have one of your t-shirts here. I washed it after Rachel spilled some milk on it remember…"

It turned out to be his black 'Death Valley' t-shirt, which he had been looking for. It was a bit strange that he didn't find it weird that some of his stuff was here, maybe he should keep some more clothes here.

* * *

"So… you wanna do something together, after I solve my case?" He asked when they walked hand-in-hand to his car, which was parked right in front of hers.

"Yeah sure, what did you have in mind?"

They stopped in front of his car. "Well…" He pulled her against him forcing her to look up at him. "has Rachel ever been to the beach? Wilson mentioned that the weather this weekend is suppose to be great. We could have a day out at the beach."

This time Cuddy couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice "You would really want Rachel to come with us?"

"Yeah of course… every kid should have the opportunity to come to the beach."

This was everything Cuddy wanted, find a guy who would accept her and her daughter and the thought that it was House, made it even more exceptional.

"Hey Cuddy… you okay?" House asked with a frown, he thought Cuddy would've liked the idea, but obviously she didn't.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine." Suddenly she flung her arms around him, he could feel her smile against his neck.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He felt her nod, but she kept her hold on him. Cuddy was desperately trying to blink back the tears. "You're purse is vibrating…" He suddenly said.

"What?" Cuddy whispered.

"You're purse… it's vibrating. It's probably your phone, unless of course you have something naughty in there." He said again.

"Oh, don't worry, I don't keep the naughty things in my purse." She returned, glad that he chose to forget about her little reaction. Although she knew he would probably ask about it some time. Cuddy dug around in her purse finally finding her phone. It was a reminder telling her, that she had her first meeting of the day in 45 minutes. "I have to go… And yes Rachel and I would love to go to the beach with you." She said already on her way over to her car.

It felt like déjà vu all over again, but this time House followed her, he needed to kiss her goodbye.

"Cuddy…" He waited until he was in front of her. "Again you almost leave without giving me a hug or even a peck on the lips. You really should learn what's important." He smiled while pulling her into a tender hug. All Cuddy could do was giggle.

"I'll see you later then and try to be in before lunch, please."

"Maybe we could have lunch together?"

House looked down at her, it was a big step for them. He knew that if he and Cuddy went public it wasn't good for her image.

"Yeah sure…" There was a little doubt in her eyes. Dammit she wasn't ready yet, House thought.

They said bye and House drove back to Wilson's apartment. He needed to do something to show her, that she could trust him.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews, they really made my miserable day a little better!**

* * *

The next Friday House left the Hospital earlier than usual, he had some cooking to do. They were going to the beach tomorrow.

He wanted to make pigs in a blanket for him and Rachel, because he had found out during the week that the little girl loved sausages. And the rest of their food he had to make at Cuddy's place, because he couldn't make the sandwiches that early in advance.

The only problem was though, he had no idea what to make for Cuddy. He was thinking along the lines of rolls filled with tomato and mozzarella, but he would have to ask Cuddy about that.

He had also bought plenty of water, apple juice, one bottle of white wine and lots of snacks for them. He hadn't planned on making something for dinner, they would just have to stop at a diner.

House had also bought two buckets, one blue one for him and a yellow one for Rachel. Yes, it would be the first official toy Rachel owned which wasn't pink. The first of many, House thought.

Throughout the week he had stayed at Cuddy's and it was great, he had forgotten how nice it was to wake up with someone in the morning. And he was enjoying the time he spend with Rachel, he never would've thought he would like spending time with a toddler. But Rachel proved to be anything but boring, she was easily entertained and for some reason she was always giving him hugs and kisses and when they were watching TV she always had to sit in his lap. Yes, House really liked the kid.

There was still one problem though, Cuddy still didn't want to go public. For some reason she still had her doubts. They needed to talk, before he would do or say something stupid.

* * *

It was 7 o'clock when he knocked on Cuddy's front door, he was surprised when Marina opened the door.

"Hi Dr. House…"

"Hi… Cuddy isn't home yet?"

"No, she called and said she had some paperwork to finish."

"Oh… well you can go home of you want. I'll take care of Rachel, I just have to get the stuff I have in my trunk inside."

Marina helped after making sure Rachel was still in her play pen. After they had put everything in the fridge Marina left them alone.

The first thing he did was take Rachel out of her play pen. Rachel hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, all House could do was smile.

* * *

It was 9 when Cuddy came home. The house was dark except from the TV, she could hear him snoring away on the couch.

Rachel was sleeping on his chest, House had his arms around her so she wouldn't fall off him. They made quite a picture, she was glad that he was there for her.

She slowly walked over to them and gently took Rachel from him, but as soon as Rachel's body left his eyes shot open.

"I'm just gonna put her to bed…" Cuddy whispered.

Cuddy came back to the living room only to find it empty with the TV still on. She listened if she could hear him in the kitchen, but there was no sound coming from there. Had he left? And then suddenly she heard him walking down the hall.

"Come on," He said standing with just a towel around his waist. "we're going to relax in the bathtub." He took her hand and led her to the bathroom. House had filled the tub already and he had lit some candles as well.

"What's going on?" She asked confused.

"You look really stressed, so I want you to relax." He dropped his towel and eased down in the water with a sigh. "Well don't just stand there… get in."

Cuddy smiled and soon she was sitting between his legs relaxing against his chest, enjoying the feeling of having his arms around her.

"So… you're okay with us yelling and fighting out in the open, but you won't let me hold your hand or put my arms around your waist?" House could feel her tense, she was either going to yell or break down and cry, he was hoping for neither though.

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Ah, yes she was playing him with one of his own tricks, deflections.

But today this wasn't gonna work, he was determined to get to the bottom of this. "Yes we do, because this is bugging me." He pulled her closer, not letting her escape in case she wanted to.

"You really want to talk? Fight about this?" She was trying to get more time and they both knew it.

"Yes, I do…" He still held on to Cuddy so she couldn't turn around, he knew it was easier for her open up without looking at him.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this. I need more time to think." House let her go and she immediately got out of the water pulling his shirt on and left the bathroom.

"Wait!" He yelled after her. It would take him longer to get out of the tub. He took his towel again and followed her as fast as she could, but he didn't have to limp far as she was sitting at the edge of the bed.

"I know this is hard for the both of us. But for this to work we have to talk to each other." House frowned. "I sound very much like Wilson right now." He was glad to hear a quite chuckle from her.

"I know and it scares the crap out of me and I want this to work, but for some reason I can't decide if I want to go public." She whispered her eyes stayed glued to the floor.

"Is it because you're my boss? Because I know your job is important and I promise you nothing's gonna change at work." He let his words sink in, knowing that there was a lot more she was holding back.

"I know that you know…"

"Then what is it? What aren't you telling me?"

"I'm afraid that you will go back to your old habits… I'm afraid that my own dating standards are too high for you… I'm afraid of not being there for you, when you need me…" By now the tears were running down her cheeks, but House just let her talk knowing that she had to get it all out. "I'm afraid of letting you in my and Rachel's life and then when it all falls apart… how's Rachel gonna handle not seeing you again?"

House pulled on his pyjama pants and limped over to his duffle-bag which he took with him back to the bed. He rummaged through the bag pulled out a folder stuffed with papers and notes.

"This is something I'm working on right now, together with Nolan… its things I need to do better. Or the House bible as I like to call it."

He opened the folder and the first page war written in his own handwriting, it said 'Keep every appointment with Dr. Nolan.' "He made me write the Dr, can you believe it?" House said.

The next page was handwritten again, it simply said 'Apologize' and under it were some names. She noticed she was on top of the list, Wilson was second followed by his mother.

"Who is Wibberly?" She asked pointing the 7th name.

"A guy from med school, we switched papers… I was trying to prove to the professor. Anyway, it was wrong and I'm working on an apology letter."

The next page was filled with cards from pain specialist in the area, including the one from PPTH.

"I know that in the end ibuprofen won't be enough, so I'm meeting with Nolan on Monday and we're gonna discuss some options. And I want to start doing some PT again."

Cuddy nodded overwhelmed by what he was showing her and they weren't done yet, there were still a lot of papers left in the folder.

They went through each page one by one and Cuddy was taking it all in. He was letting his walls down.

At the second to last page Cuddy noticed that his hands were shaking. The page said 'Focus on the good things, instead of the bad.'

"It's about my dad, we had a very complicated relationship, but there were some good things which I'm gonna focus on and I need to talk to my mum about that. But let's not open that can of worms tonight." He said while smirking.

House could see that he was slowly getting through to her, maybe even convincing her that he was the right guy for her. And the last page was going to be tough, but it was important that she knew just how much she meant to him.

He turned the page and she gasped when she read it.

'Learn to love again.'

"I wrote that down the night we came back from the conference, because that's when I realized that all this hard work is worth it." He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I know that I'm not perfect, but I do know that I love you and Rachel and nothing, absolutely nothing is gonna change that. I want to be the man you and Rachel need me to be…" He finished off in a soft whisper.

Suddenly she straddled his lap, her arms tightly around his neck. She was still only wearing his t-shirt and House couldn't resist… he gave her ass a tender squeeze causing her to giggle.

"I love you too… And we'll have a meeting with HR on Monday…" She whispered softly stroking the stubble on his cheeks she loved so much, as she rested her forehead against his.

They were both smiling, glad to finally be on the same page at last. House leaned forward giving her a tender kiss.

"So guess taking a bath is out, how about we just go to bed. I'm pretty tired?"

"You do realize it's only 10, right?"

"Shut up… I'm tired because I actually did work today." They were back to their joking selves and both happy that the dark cloud above them had lifted.

"Yeah yeah whatever…" He mumbled.

They went to the bathroom together, where House blew out the candles and Cuddy let the water out of the tub, before they walked to the sink to brush their teeth.

"Is it okay if I read for a bit? I'm not that tired." He asked.

"Yeah sure… and you don't have to ask."

House lied back down and put his reading glasses on. Cuddy had her back turned towards him, but her body was a lined with his. His leg was nice and warm dulling some of the pain.

* * *

Cuddy opened her eyes when she heard him snoring loudly and the bedside lamp was still on. She turned and what she saw made her smile. House was snoring loudly with a medical journal he had been reading on his chest and his glasses were still on his face.

"Momma… Hows…" She heard Rachel mumble followed by some urgent whimpers.

After Cuddy had changed her daughter's diaper, she came back to the bedroom with Rachel in her arms. The little girl had trouble getting back to sleep.

Cuddy lied back down again, her back was pressed up against House's side while Rachel was on her other side her eyes closed already.

In his sleep House rolled over and pulled Cuddy up against him and sighed. Cuddy was so glad that they were okay. And she was looking forward to tomorrow, their first real day out as a family.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm so so sorry for the long wait, but I've been very busy with my other job… Anyway I did find some time to write this chapter. I hope you like it.**

**Also I would like to thank everyone for the kind reviews and everybody else who has read this…**

House woke up at six, when Cuddy's alarm went off.

"For God sake Cuddy it's six o'clock in the morning on a Saturday." He mumbled while snuggling closer to her. Then he noticed Rachel was with them in the bed sleeping peacefully.

"Go back to sleep…" She said as she got off the bed to get her yoga pants, then she left the bedroom.

House rolled onto his stomach, so he could keep an eye on Rachel. She was sleeping on her back, her head turned towards him.

At 8 o'clock he felt something wet touch his forehead briefly and he felt something or rather someone lying up against his side. He opened his eyes slowly and was greeted with a big smile and twinkling eyes.

"Hows up… rio's."

"Good morning Rachel." He smirked at Rachel, for some reason she could only get her cheerio's from him. Although, he could understand why, they would always share the bowl. "Where's momma?" He asked. She pointed to the bathroom.

And so their Saturday began. House shared his cheerio's with Rachel, soon they were joined by Cuddy, who was wearing one of his shirts again.

"Can I wear your grey pencil skirt I think it would really suit me." House said.

"Shut up… I've never been in a relationship long enough to wear the boyfriends clothes."

"Well in that case knock yourself out." He said with a big smile and gave her a tender kiss.

The rest of the breakfast was spend feeding Rachel the cheerio's and reading the morning paper.

"I'm gonna take a shower." He squeezed Rachel's shoulder as he went past her. "Oh, and I made some rolls for you Cuddy, but I didn't know it you wanted anything on them, so you'll have to do it yourself. They're in the bag over there." He pointed to a red shoulder bag.

After House had taken a shower he came back to the kitchen again. Cuddy had changed and was now wearing a red summer dress, while Rachel was wearing a cute white dress.

"Looks like you guys are ready to go."

"Yeah and I love your shorts by the way." She said. He was wearing a pair of blue swimming trunks that covered his thighs with a white t-shirt.

House smiled and started making the sandwiches. He gave a plate, plastic knife and a slice of bread to Rachel, so she could 'help' him. Meanwhile Cuddy packed Rachel's diaper bag and her own stuff for the beach.

Nearly two hours later they arrived at Union Beach. House was carrying a backpack, the diaper bag and a sleeping Rachel, while Cuddy carried the rest of their things. They found a perfect spot and Cuddy spread the blanket on the sand.

"Just put Rachel down on the blanket." Cuddy said.

"This is great I forgot how nice clean air was." He put Rachel down. "Did you put sunscreen on yourself?"

"No, just on Rachel… I was kind of hoping you could put it on me." She said coyly.

"You know there are people here, right?" He said and pointed to the other family near them, but she could see the hunger in his eyes. "Where is the sunscreen anyway?"

Cuddy was looking for it while House made himself comfortable.

"Ah, found it!"

House spread his legs so she could sit between them, before she did though she took her dress off. House had to remember himself how to breathe, she was wearing a purple bikini. "There is a God…" He whispered.

"Get on with it, so I don't get sunburned."

"Yes mistress." He squeezed some sunscreen in his hand and he gave the bottle to Cuddy. "You do the front…" He whispered and kissed her neck before he went to work. He gently rubbed the sunscreen into her skin starting with the shoulders. Then he massaged the rest of her back, something he would've done yesterday, but they were just too tired.

"Mmm…" She suddenly moaned, when he found an extremely sore spot on her shoulder.

"Shh not so loud… I don't want that family over there to call the police." He whispered and gave her neck another kiss.

"Shut up… I'm enjoying this."

"So am I…"

"Hey! You better behave or those people _are _gonna call the cops."

All House could do was smile and continue spreading the sunscreen on her back.

"Alright you're all protected from the sun. My turn…" House said pulling his t-shirt off. Cuddy started with giving his neck a tender rub and then she continued on to his shoulders.

"You could quit your day job any day and come work as my personal massage therapist…" He mumbled.

"I'll keep that in mind." She returned while rolling her eyes at him.

"Box…" They suddenly heard from their left side, as Rachel announced that she was awake and had noticed they were in a big sandbox.

"Hi there Rach…" House took her and sat her between his legs, Rachel leaned into him still a little sleepy after her nap.

"All done…" Cuddy said and took a seat next to House. Rachel didn't even look her way, she was instead focusing on the ocean, staring at it in wonder.

"Welcome to the biggest sandbox you've ever been in." House whispered down to Rachel, amused by the girl's fascination. "And look what I've bought you." He gave Rachel the yellow bucket and the shovel, the girl's eyes lightening up immediately.

"What do you say Rachel?"

"Tank you." It was one of the good things her nephew had taught Rachel.

While her two kids played in the sand Cuddy was lying on her stomach reading a book, it was nice to read something that wasn't work related.

And just like that they spend their day at the beach. Cuddy nearly finished her book, while House spend his time either eating or building sandcastles for Rachel. The little girl would laugh each time he called her a cheeky monkey when she destroyed the castles.

Unknown to them Cuddy had taken several pictures of House and Rachel. Many of them showed a smiling House, it made Cuddy very happy that he had accepted Rachel with open arms. Oh, yes he would get very lucky tonight, Cuddy thought with a smile.

When they left the beach House asked Cuddy to drive home. He didn't tell her why, but she knew it was because all the walking through the sand was hurting his leg. She would've offered anyway, he looked pretty tired from playing with Rachel all day.

Rachel fell asleep as soon as they had left Union Beach, Cuddy smiled at the peaceful look on her daughters face.

Cuddy was brought out of her thoughts by snoring coming from the passenger seat. Well, so much for getting lucky, she thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Thank you guys, you are amazing. Thanks for the awesome reviews!**

* * *

House stepped into the diner, he was meeting Nolan for lunch and after that they were gonna drive to his appointment to the pain specialist.

Nolan waved House over when he noticed him.

"I hope you don't mind I ordered already, but I didn't have any breakfast."

"No it's fine. And stop talking like that, we're not on a date." House muttered while scanning through the menu.

"Alright then… How was your weekend?"

"It was fine, dear!" He snapped back.

"Fine no more talking." Nolan said and went back to eating his lunch.

The waitress came by and House ordered a cheeseburger with some fries and a coke.

"I went to the beach yesterday." House said with a sigh. It was weird sometimes he couldn't keep his mouth shut and it often happened when he was with Nolan.

"You went alone?" Nolan asked, even though he already knew to the answer to that question.

"Yes I went alone… you knew I went with Cuddy." The waitress brought him his lunch.

"You chose to say _I _instead of _we_." Sometimes it was annoying how well the doctor and patient knew each other.

"Fine! Cuddy, Rachel and I went to the beach yesterday… are you happy now?" House got a smile in return.

Both of them ate their lunch in silence for awhile. The burger actually tasted quite good, better than the ones they serve at the cafeteria at the hospital.

"So what do you know about this Dr. Hastings?" House asked.

"Well, she did work for PPTH before you did and she was the best pain specialist in the state, actually she still is the best in her field. She opened her own clinic 5 years ago, after spending some years in Europe. But I'm sure you knew that already." There was that annoying smile again, but Nolan was right House had of course done his own research.

The rest of their lunch was spent in silence, Nolan knew House needed some time to think about this next step.

* * *

When they entered the clinic House was surprised by how many patients there were. Many of them were using crutches or wheelchairs. House hoped he wouldn't end up like that. Nolan went to the reception area, while House took a seat in one of the chairs in a corner, so nobody could sit next to him. He was better at people-watching anyway.

Nolan waved him over, apparently they didn't have to wait. "Dr. Hastings is waiting for us." He explained.

They entered a big office, bigger than Cuddy's in fact. One section was filled with a big desk and two very comfortable looking chairs in front of it. Behind the desk there was an even bigger cupboard and it only seemed to be filled with awards and diplomas. So either this doctor was good at her job, or she spends a lot of her free time on the internet.

House and Nolan took a seat in the chairs by the desk, waiting for the doctor.

"I'm sorry I let you wait Dr. House, but after that last patient I needed more coffee." And just with that comment House decided he rather liked Dr. Hastings.

The next hour was spent with House talking about the infarction and describing the different stages of his pain. What surprised House most though, was how easy it was for him to talk about his pain. Something, that would have been impossible a couple of years ago. The only conclusion his medical mind could come up with, was that the therapy with Nolan actually was working.

Dr. Hastings made notes in her new patients file, House could see she already had some ideas in mind.

"Well Dr. House, I do believe I can help you with your pain. You just have to be aware of that it might take some time before my team and I find the right strategy to fight your pain. So you have to be patient." She looked at him sternly, it reminded him of his mother.

"All I can promise, is that I'm gonna try." He answered honestly.

"Alright good…" She could see how determined House was. "Because of your recent problem with narcotics it's gonna be pretty tricky, but I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Okay, so let's talk about some of these strategies." House knew it was gonna be, Hastings didn't need to point it out that much.

"Well, I think swimming could really benefit you, it will strengthen you upper body and will help that shoulder pain you mentioned." That made sense to House and his thigh would also feel better in the water. "We could also do some traditional PT of course, but I really think swimming some laps in our pool is the right way to go."

"You have a pool?" Nolan spoke up for the first time.

"Oh yes, it's down in the basement. Why don't I show you around?" Dr. Hastings stood up and took her coffee cup with her, House and Nolan followed.

* * *

House was back at Wilson's apartment, or Amber's shrine as he liked to call the apartment. He was glad he didn't sleep here that often anymore and he was only here now to get some clothes.

He entered his room and it always made him shiver, all these pictures of Amber. He often wondered how Wilson could live like this. He knew his best friend was stuck in this apartment until he finally moved on from Amber, but House had no idea how to get Wilson out of this.

House was glad, when his cell started playing _'Time after time'_, his sad thoughts disappeared from his mind.

"Hey good-looking." He answered.

"Hey and stop calling me that." Cuddy said, but he could hear the smile in her voice. "I just wanted to know when you're gonna be here, 'cos I'm about to order dinner."

"Oh, I'll be there in 30 minutes. I just needed more clothes."

"Okay I'll see you then."

"Yeah and I'll tell you all about my appointment with Dr. Hastings, which is why you're really calling me." House smirked when he heard her chuckle in response.

"Okay and your number one fan will be very happy to see you. She asked about you when I got home."

His smirk turned into a full blown smile. "Really?"

"Yeah, I was actually disappointed when the first thing she asked was 'where's House?'"

"Sorry about that, but I am pretty irresistible."

"Yeah you sure are." He could almost see the eye-roll that came with that sentence.

"And on that note, I'll see you in 30 minutes."

"Alright see you."

"See ya, honey!" He hung up before Cuddy could say anything.

House packed the rest of his clothes in the duffle-bag and that's when he noticed a package addressed to him on his nightstand. He put it in the duffle-bag as well. He knew what it was and he couldn't wait to see Cuddy's reaction.

House left Wilson's apartment, looking forward to the evening ahead of him.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: A huge thanks goes to chloe2007, JessicaLynH, IHeartHouseCuddy, CGCath and minnie313 for reviewing chapter 18! They made me very happy;-)**

**Anyway, enough chit-chat here's the next chapter!**

* * *

_House left Wilson's apartment, looking forward to the evening ahead of him._

He arrived at Cuddy's just as the pizza boy got out of his car.

"Did you order the pizza, dude?" The teenager asked.

"No, but I'll pay for it anyway, that's just how nice I am." House gave the boy some money, not caring how big the tip was.

"Cool…"

"Rock on." House said and watched the boy walk back to his car again.

House knocked on the door with his cane.

"That'll be 21 dollars." He said as soon as Cuddy opened the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry I don't have any cash on me."

"I guess you just have to pay me with something else then."

Cuddy grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled his face down and smashed her lips against his, House nearly dropped the pizza box in surprise.

"You get your tip later." She said slightly out of breath when they broke apart.

"I'll collect…" He muttered and stared at her ass as she walked to the living room.

When he entered the living room Rachel was still in her play-pen and hadn't noticed him yet. Her, still mostly pink toys, were way more interesting at the moment. House limped over to the play-pen.

"Hi Rachel!"

The little girl dropped everything she had in her hands and turned around to face him. She was smiling her eyes twinkling.

"Hows Hows Hows!" She stood up, opening her arms wanting to be picked up immediately.

As soon as Rachel's arms could reach his neck she wrapped them around him and gave him a hug, which House returned.

And that's when it hit him, this was what it was like to have someone waiting for him to come home to and actually be happy to see him. It was an amazing feeling. He had to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, this was what he had been searching for. Someone, or in his case some ones, to make him feel less lonely. He was one lucky bastard, he thought while inhaling the calming baby scent.

"Let's eat then, I'm starving!" Cuddy called from the couch.

He let Rachel down on the floor, she followed him like a loyal saint Bernhard to the couch.

"I think I might just ditch Wilson and let her be my best friend." House said and switched from the news program to Spongebob. Rachel clapped her hands together when she saw it.

Normally Cuddy would've asked him to change it to something else, but she knew he had had a hard day and the cartoons helped him relax.

They sat in silence for a while, but Cuddy couldn't keep quiet for long.

"So what did Dr. Hastings say?"

"I'm surprised you even let me in the door without asking."

"House…" She said impatiently.

"What do you say Cuddy?"

"Please…" Rachel said and laughed like she knew House's question wasn't meant for her.

"See even your daughter knows." He took Rachel and let her get comfortable on his lap. "It actually went better than I thought it would." He said referring to Cuddy's earlier question.

"That's good, what did she say?"

"Well, she's gonna use me as a lab rat, because I can't take strong narcotics we're gonna try different things. I really like her swimming idea. Did you know her clinic has a pool?"

"No, but I know she's pretty successful, we often recommend her to pain patients. What swimming idea?"

"Swimming some laps every day and work on my upper body to give my thigh some relief."

"That sounds great…" Cuddy smiled when she thought about his upper body in better shape than it already was. It was gonna be hard to keep her hands off of him.

"Cuddy get your mind out of the bedroom."

"Sorry." House chuckled when he noticed Cuddy's red cheeks. "Is she gonna try some new meds as well?"

"If the ibuprofen doesn't work after the swimming, she might put me on something stronger."

"Okay."

House could hear the worry in her voice. He was worried as well, afraid that if this didn't work out he had no idea what would happen to him, but right now it was the only hope he had to live a normal life. Probably something very bad would happen, hope could be a very dangerous thing, he knew that from his ketamin experience.

"It's gonna be alright." He said instead of telling her his worries.

"Yeah, but what if it doesn't work?"

"Well, for once I'm not afraid of asking for help, Nolan will be there to help me through this. And I hope you're gonna be there for me too?" He looked down at Rachel who had taken his hand holding it tightly; it was as if she knew House and Cuddy were having a serious talk.

"Looks like both _Rachel _and _I _are gonna be there for you." She placed her hand on theirs. House rolled his eyes at the fluffiness of this situation, but Cuddy could see relief and maybe even happiness in his blues eyes.

They sat like that for a long time, until House felt Rachel relax even more against him.

"Let's get her to bed… You still owe me a tip, you know?"

* * *

The next morning House woke up to the sound of Cuddy's alarm blaring through his rather pleasant dream, Little Greg wasn't too happy about the intrusion.

"Turn it off." He mumbled in Cuddy's direction.

With a sigh she left the warm cocoon of House's naked body, pushing the snooze button giving her 20 more minutes. She rolled back towards House again, resting her head on his chest and placing one of her legs around his waist.

"Why are you getting up so early?"

"Why do you ask me every time? You know I do my yoga exercises every morning." She said gently caressing his chest, loving the way his skin felt.

"I can give you a more thorough exercise, if you know what I mean?" He squeezed her ass for good measure.

Cuddy smiled and she kissed her way up to his neck, making him moan when she sucked on his pulse point. House took hold of her waist and pulled her top of him, making them both moan when their skin rubbed against each others.

He opened his eyes for the first time this morning. Cuddy's desire filled eyes looked right back at him. There probably wasn't a better sight than this.

They stared at each other for a long time, then Cuddy leaned down and their lips finally met. His cock was already rock hard and ready for some action, she could feel it throbbing against her entrance.

Without warning he plunged inside her.

While letting her adjust he rolled them over. The only sound in the room was the heavy breathing from the couple on the bed. Cuddy wrapped her legs around him, knowing this was gonna be rough and fast, but at the same time so satisfying.

And sure enough House started pumping in and out of her in a fast rhythm, so fast in fact, it was difficult for her to keep up with him.

It didn't take long for them to reach their climax, calling out each other's names.

House rolled off her, still trying to get his breathing under control. Cuddy inched closer to him and again laid her head on his chest.

"You were right," She said still gasping to get more air into her lungs. "this was way more thorough than my yoga exercise."

"Same time tomorrow?"

"You can count on that." She said just as her alarm signaled her the 20 minutes were over and she really had to get up. Cuddy left a grinning House in the bed as she got up and went to the bathroom.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: First of all let me apologize for the long wait, but I've been rather busy with the new semester starting…**

**Also I like to thank everyone who reads this and a special thanks goes to the loyal reviewers (You know who you are;-D)**

* * *

_Cuddy left a grinning House in the bed as she got up and went to the bathroom._

After showering and applying her make-up Cuddy came back to the bedroom to get dressed. She was just on her way to her dresser, when House surprised her by getting out of the bed and limping over to his duffle-bag.

"Did the team call you?" She asked, thinking this would be the only reason he would get up so early.

"No, the swimming starts today." He mumbled sounding still half asleep.

"Oh, I just thought you would do that when you're supposed to be working."

"I don't want to be on my boss' bad side." He said and took a lingering look when she changed out of the bathrobe and put on an extremely sexy thong, which made her ass look even better.

The sight of her made his cock twitch, he limped closer to her so he was right behind her. He reached out and gently squeezed her right ass cheek, making her gasp in surprise.

"What are you doing?" She could feel his cock harden against the small of her back.

"Oh just checking out the view." House mumbled and started to caress her shoulder with small soft kisses, while pulling her body closer up against his.

"Stop it!" She giggled and pushed him towards the bathroom.

* * *

It was ten before she saw him limp into the hospital and making his way to the elevators, where Cuddy caught up with him.

She noticed that his limp was more pronounced when he entered the hospital, but she had expected that. Still she felt sorry for him.

"So how did it go?"

"Can we get to my office first before the third degree starts?" He snapped. House was very grateful when she just accepted his answer and stepped into the elevator with him. He was also glad that they were alone, because as soon as the door closed he leaned against the wall to take the weight off of his leg.

House made a hissing sound when the elevator reached his floor, the bouncing of the elevator shot excruciating pain through his thigh.

They walked slowly towards his office, Cuddy stayed close to his side, in case he needed her help.

He dropped everything as soon as he was inside his haven and sank into his comfortable chair. He left enough space for Cuddy on the footstool though.

"Could you close the blinds?"

She took her time closing them, giving him some privacy. House knew what she was doing, but if he was really honest with himself he wanted her right next to him and hold his hand. That's why he gratefully sighed and relaxed, when she finally was at his side holding his hand.

"So how did it go?" She asked after House had calmed down a bit.

"Well, I was fine in the water, the pain started when I was driving here."

"Next time call and I'll pick you up, or I'll send Wilson…" Cuddy said ending on a smile and hoping to hide her worry.

"Just give me a minute." Cuddy held his hand all through his agony and when the pain was down to a manageable 4 he squeezed her hand, knowing she would understand that he was thanking her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier." He whispered.

"That's okay, you were in pain." Cuddy loved how different House was after he's been at Mayfield. The House from one year ago would never have apologized to her. It was like he wasn't afraid anymore to show his human side. She felt really honored to see this open side of him. "Oh and by the way, I've made an appointment with HR at 3 today. I hope that's okay?"

"Are you sure you're ready? Because after that there's no going back, everybody will know about us." He asked seriously, but she understood he needed to know, after all she was the one who wasn't ready some days ago.

"Yes I am. I don't want to hide anymore."

"Okay, I'll see you then." He said and released her hand when they both heard the team entering the conference room.

It turned out the team had managed to find a case for him, so he didn't have time to do his clinic hours, which always made him less grumpy. Also the case took his mind of the pain in his thigh.

* * *

House and Cuddy entered the HR office at exactly 3 o'clock. Everybody rolled their eyes as soon as they saw House. He took a seat in front of the secretary's desk and she gave him the newest medical journal. Cuddy looked at her in question.

"It keeps him quiet." She explained with a shrug.

"Usually I get coffee too." House pointed out.

5 minutes later they were both called into the office of Ernest Griffin the head of Human Resources.

"So Dr. Cuddy, what can I do for you?" He asked, ignoring House completely. Normally he would have said something about that, but right now House didn't care. He was looking forward to the facial expression when Griffin heard the shocking news.

"Well, I would like to inform HR that Dr. House and I are in a relationship." It was a shame Griffin wasn't eating anything, because House was sure he would've chocked to death. He also thought he saw some disappointment in Griffin's eyes, it seemed like he had the hots for Cuddy. It made House even more proud that Cuddy had chosen him.

Griffin took a deep breath, as if he was trying to keep his personal opinion to himself, but House sensed some jealousy in him when their eyes met. Who could blame him though?

"Right," Griffin finally said. "you'll need to sign what we call love contracts. If you breach the contract both your jobs are on the line." He said seriously. House knew though he was only saying that for legal reasons. There had been quite some colorful break-ups at PPTH, but nobody had been fired because of that.

So House signed the contract without reading it. Cuddy on the other hand and like the good administrator she was, read every single word, even the small print House noticed. After roughly 5 minutes she signed her contract too.

* * *

"So now that we've signed the contracts, does that mean I'm allowed to hold your hand and grab your ass?" He asked when they were in the elevator on the way back to their offices. House only asked to test her, he knew there would be some rules. And to be perfectly honest he didn't want their work relationship to change.

Sure enough right after the elevator door closed, Cuddy pushed the emergency-stop button.

"You know that we'll breach the contract if our work relationship changes. I'm your boss and you're my employee." She said in a voice that meant she was very serious.

"Yes boss… no sex in your office, exam room or janitors closet."

Cuddy sighed and House could see she was starting to get really frustrated thinking that he hadn't taken her serious.

"That's not wh-"

"I know…" He cut her off. "Do you really think I'm that shallow? I've said to you before that I know your job is important to you and I don't want our work relationship to change anyway."

She relaxed visibly and turned fully towards him and he let her walk into his arms.

"I'm sorry…" She said and buried her head in his neck, her high heels making her able to reach that high. "It's just that I know as soon as the board finds out, they're gonna question my sanity in the next meeting."

"I'm gonna be there with you, show them that we're really serious." House suggested and he could feel her nod.

They stayed in each other's arms until Cuddy got a call from the receptionist telling her that her 4 o'clock appointment was waiting for her.

"Can you maybe cook dinner? This meeting could take a while."

"Okay…" He didn't really mind, because when he cooked there would be meat in it and he always had the feeling Rachel ate more when he cooked.

House pushed the emergency-stop button ending their conversation.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews, they mean the world to me;-)**

**And Happy new season! Only to those, of course, who will be sitting in front of the TV to watch the new episodes. I actually liked the season premiere, but I've always liked the episodes where House isn't in the hospital to solve his cases… **

* * *

The news of the relationship between him and Cuddy spread through PPTH like wildfire. The only person who seemed relieved was Wilson, because he was known to spread gossip before people were supposed to know.

Now, House did expect some looks coming his way, but as he left the hospital later that evening he wasn't prepared for how many pair of eyes turned his way. Some nurses were even stopping and pointing at him while shaking their heads, clearly not liking that he and Cuddy were together. He just had to get out, he was getting to much attention. Good that he and Cuddy didn't leave together, otherwise the gossip would've been out of control, but there's always tomorrow, House thought.

* * *

It was 10 pm and finally Cuddy was able to pack her things and head home. She was smiling all the way home, just knowing there was someone other than Rachel waiting for her just made the smile unstoppable. Luckily, because of the late time there weren't so many eyes following her. And Cuddy didn't notice anyway.

When she opened the door all the lights were out, except in her bedroom. She could hear the TV and House's voice. When she entered the bedroom she had to smile of what she saw. House was watching _Prescription Passion_, while he was explaining the plot to Rachel. It was really adorable, Rachel was hanging on every word he said.

"Well at least you're not watching _The Real Wives of New Jersey _with her. Is she having trouble sleeping again?" She said and took a seat next to them on the bed and reached for Rachel, giving her a hug as soon as she was in her arms.

"Yeah and _Real Wives _is next week." He said and pulled them closer to them, while still keeping an eye on the TV. "There's some pizza in the kitchen if you want some." She nodded and handed Rachel back to him.

In the kitchen she found a covered plate waiting for her, it was a _homemade _slice of pizza, her mouth watering already. After 2 minutes in the microwave her little slice of heaven was ready to be eaten.

She heard House limp down the hall, probably to Rachel's room. Some seconds later she heard him limping in her direction.

"Turns out the soap opera made her sleepy." He said standing in the doorway looking tired dressed in some blue pajama pants and a white t-shirt.

"God… this pizza is amazing. The dough is so thin, yet at the same time light and fluffy, how did you do that?" House smiled still standing in the doorway leaning his head against it. "Just go to bed, you don't have to wait for me."

Normally he would've had a sexual remark at the ready, but he was just too tired. His body was aching all over from the swimming, so he just nodded and left Cuddy to eat her slice of pizza alone. And sure enough as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.

40 minutes later after finishing her dinner, answering some emails and packing her briefcase for tomorrow, she was finally ready to join House in the bed.

* * *

2 weeks later his body wasn't sore all over anymore and he actually could be longer awake than 4 hours at a time and he felt like his leg wasn't hurting so much anymore. Nolan had mentioned it could also be because he was happy, but House didn't believe that, he knew it was because the PT was working. He had a hole in his leg and that's why he is in pain, sometimes he wondered why he even bothered with that shrink.

Nolan was right about one thing though, he is happy. Or at least the happiest he can be. For the first time since he can't remember when he was actually looking forward to each day. A big part of that he owned to Rachel… and he guessed that he was her new best friend as well, especially when he had given Rachel her own Bally. It was her pride and joy, she always carried it with her.

And at work the relationship between him and Cuddy hadn't changed much, the only difference was they had lunch together. Sure there was still some staring and gossiping from the nurses, but many just ignored them. And there was one new topic to gossip about anyway, Nurse Jeffrey had a girlfriend, nobody could really believe it.

Yep, all in all his life couldn't get any better right now. Or so he thought…

* * *

On Monday morning he woke up to the sound of Rachel talking to herself on the baby-monitor, while at the same time he could hear Cuddy humming in the shower. He smiled thinking about why Cuddy was in such a good mood.

House got up slowly letting his leg get used to his weight, just like every morning. He slipped on some pajama pants not bothering with a t-shirt. That was the trouble of living with a woman, it was like living in the tropics. Cuddy had the heating turned on to the maximum, she was always cold.

He limped slowly to Rachel's room, the little girl smiled as soon as she saw the door opening and waited for him to pick her up so she could get her good-morning hug.

Yes, House realized he was acting out of character here, but he had made a promise with himself, he was gonna be a better role model than his father.

House had just finished making the last pancake when Cuddy came into the kitchen. It had sort of become their routine these last weeks. House would make breakfast, feed Rachel and stay out of Cuddy's way. She was very hectic in the morning, running around the house putting the last papers in her briefcase. If someone from work could see the sometime panic in her eyes no one would believe their own eyes.

Cuddy would then leave when Marina came to begin her working day. She would kiss House and Rachel goodbye and then speed to work thinking she was late, which she never was.

His day first really started when he entered PPTH after his morning swim, the real challenge was for him to get to his office without collapsing from the pain. It was always worst right after he had been in the water, sometimes he wished he was in a wheelchair.

"Morning," Thirteen greeted him, when he entered the office. "We've been trying to call you, but you've left your cell phone here."

_Of course,_ he thought he had been having the feeling that he had forgotten something.

"We have a case…" Foreman stormed into the office. "30 year-old pregnant woman, who just had a heart-attack." Thirteen could see he was interested and to be honest so was she, they hadn't had a good case in a long time.

At lunch time they still hadn't found an answer, if anything they were further away from the answer because the patient had had another heart-attack already.

Cuddy found him staring at the whiteboard deep in thought.

She stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, she felt him lean back against her, letting some of the in him tension go.

"You always react like this? I could be a complete stranger."

"Only to you and Wilson."

"That explains a lot." House could hear the smile in her voice. "You wanna go get some lunch?"

After a while he nodded, knowing he wouldn't come up with the answer, he needed another piece for his puzzle.

The lunch turned out to be less dramatic as Nurse Jeffrey was there as well and stole their thunder.

An hour later he was back in front of the whiteboard again, none the wiser about his patient. It they didn't come up with an idea soon he would have to pay the patient a visit, which he wanted to avoid to the last possible moment.

Suddenly he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

"This better be good news…" He said thinking it was someone from the team.

"Uh hi Dr. House, this is Ruth Stephens your landlady. And this might be good news that's entirely up to you." In his mind it was never good news when the landlady called, but he waited for her to continue and get to the reason for why she actually called. "I've noticed that you haven't really been living your apartment these days and I was wondering if you might be interested in selling the place? There already is someone interested in buying it off you."

Selling his apartment? Where would he live? Well he could move in with Wilson, but where would all of his stuff go? And he needed room for his piano, but he didn't really want to live with Wilson. He guessed he could move in with Cuddy, but again where would they put his stuff? And another question entirely was, were they ready for a step that big?

"Dr. House? Are you still there?"


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: First of all I like to apologize for the long wait, but I had some very important assignments to hand in. **

**Also thank you to everybody who put this little idea of mine as their story alerts and of course thank you for reviewing.**

**I don't know when I'll be able to upload the next chapter, so you'll just have to be patient;-)**

* * *

"Yeah, I'm still there." He said remembering that he was still talking to Mrs. Stephens.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now, but I have to know by the end of the week."

"Okay, I'll call you then." He said and hung up the phone.

This wasn't helping at all, the patient was now the last thing in his mind. He needed to talk to Nolan. No scratch that, he needed to talk to Wilson. And of course today was the day his best friend was speaking at a convention. _Double damn_, he thought.

"House?" Thirteen stood in the doorway looking slightly out of breath. "The baby is having heart trouble too, it's beating irregular." He nodded and made a new column, marking it with _Junior_.

Just as Thirteen was about to leave House said: "Do you think I'm ready to move in with someone?" He was too worried about the whole thing to come up with a metaphor.

"Well you've lived with Wilson, haven't you?" She said in a calm voice, but House could see she was surprised by the question.

"It's not exactly the same thing, although he is like a woman, have you seen the way he puts the dishes in the dishwasher? Even Cuddy isn't that fuzzy…"

"Maybe you are ready to move in with her then." She left letting House go back to his thoughts. _Was he ready?_

* * *

It was exactly 20 past midnight when House stumbled into Cuddy's home. The house was dark and quiet, he limped down the hall to the bedroom. Cuddy was lying on her left side her back facing him. She was peacefully asleep, which was about to change in four seconds, when House nearly fell on the bed while he was trying to get his shoes off.

"House? What the fuck are you doing?" Cuddy shrieked. She always said what was on her mind when she was half asleep, but he liked the swearword-using Cuddy.

"Jus tryn to take m shoes ff." He managed to mumble and burp his way through that sentence.

"Are you drunk?" She asked while turning on the light.

"Jus alittle bit…" He lied down in the middle of the bed, his head landing on her stomach.

"Why? What happened?"

"The mum died 'n I've nowhere to live." The bourbon was taking its toll on him and he was ready to fall asleep right now.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. Even though she realized it was a bad idea, because he wouldn't make much sense right now.

"Mrs. Stephens wans t get rid f me…" He snuggled gently against her belly making himself comfortable, letting sleep over take him.

Cuddy sighed and turned the light off. She had a lot of questions for him in the morning.

* * *

_SLAM!_

House sat up startled by the sound of the bedroom door slamming shut. The next sound that followed was a groan, when one of the worst hangovers set up camp in House's head.

"There's breakfast if you want some." Cuddy's voice was way too loud for his liking, but he could still hear she was angry with him. "See you at work. Don't be late." And just like that she was gone again.

_Great_, he thought, now they had to have their big talk at work.

He managed to drag himself to PPTH around lunch time. Yes, he was very late, but right now he didn't care she was already mad at him. He was surprised though that she didn't wait for him at the reception desk. Maybe she was giving him the silent treatment.

It took him nearly 10 minutes to get up to his office, this hangover was really bad. When he entered the conference room, everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at him. _Must look as bad as I feel_, he thought to himself. Thankfully nobody dared to say anything. So he limped inside his office and shut the blinds, sending the clear message to his team that he was to be left alone.

* * *

Cuddy was in a meeting right now about the budget, but really all she could think about was House. Why would he get drunk? She had done some thinking and she wasn't really mad anymore. She was just a bit disappointed that he hadn't talked to her before he got plastered.

"Dr. Cuddy, do you agree with the proposal?" She startled out of her thoughts and nodded, not really caring what kind of proposal it was.

The meeting ended and Cuddy hurried out of the room and walked to the direction of House's office. Then she changed her mind though, he was the one who needed to explain, if she pushed him it wouldn't end well. So instead she went to the cafeteria before she walked to her office.

* * *

He had avoided her all day, on the upside though his blinding headache was gone. He drove back to Wilson's apartment to get some more clothes. As he looked around in his room, he realized there weren't many of his things left. And now that he thought about it he didn't really want to move back to his old apartment, not when he could live together with his two girls. So what was he so worried about then?

House did spend all the drive over to Cuddy's trying to come up with a reason for his reaction yesterday. He reached her place, he still hadn't figured out what to tell Cuddy, but he knew she deserved the truth.

So, he took a deep breath and opened the front door with the key under the flowerpot.

* * *

**A/N: FYI the next chapter is going to be the last one…**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Alright, so this is it the last chapter.**

* * *

He entered the house and he could hear the news channel on the TV. Cuddy was the first person he knew, who had the news channel on for longer than 10 minutes a day. As he looked around the corner he could see her sitting on the couch with her laptop on her thighs. When does this woman not work?

"I can feel you staring." She said and kept her eyes on the laptop.

House took a deep breath again and entered the living room, but he didn't sit down.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and in a way he hoped that this was the end of it, that they didn't need to have a complicated discussion and everything could go back to normal again, but he knew that wouldn't happen.

"I just want to know what happened, cos you didn't make much sense yesterday." It surprised him that there was no anger in her voice, Stacy would've been screaming at this point already. _Stop it_, he thought _Cuddy is not Stacy!_

"I… ah… I had just lost my patient and I took the easy way out, I guess. I should've called you or Nolan." House finally took a seat on the couch keeping the coffee-table between them, in case she did blow up on him.

"Yes you should have." She was so proud of him. He had changed so much, the old House never would have this talk with her. It was like he had finally grown-up. "You also didn't do your PT today, Dr. Hastings called."

"Yeah, I forgot all about that." He mumbled.

She could see there was something else bothering him, there was still some tension in his body. "Why aren't you yelling at me? I turned up drunk in your house." He asked.

"I-ah well, don't be mad, but I know your first reaction to a new problem will always be bury the issue in vicodin and/or alcohol." All House could do was nod, she was totally right. Suddenly he felt her hand on his back and she took a seat next to him. "But that's also because you were alone, you didn't have anyone to talk to."

"Now I do." He said with a sigh and took her other hand in his and held it tightly. Cuddy hugged him to her enveloping him in her arms, letting some of his tension out. There was still one question she had to ask though.

"Who is Mrs. Stephens?" She could feel in tense again and he brought his arms around her waist, holding her as if she was about to leave.

"Who? What are you talking about?" Ah, yes so this was, what this was really about. The fact that he had lost his patient yesterday was not the major problem. And that's why he was clinging to her now, he was afraid she would leave him when he told her.

"Yesterday you said you'd lost your patient and Mrs. Stephens wants to get rid of you. So, who is Mrs. Stephens?"

House was silent for some time, but he still held on to her. After a while Cuddy started to caress his forearm, telling him to take his time, she wasn't going anywhere.

"She's my landlady," He finally said with a sigh. "and she wanted to know if I want to sell my apartment."

Cuddy kept caressing his forearm and asked: "Why would she think you want to sell?"

"Well, I haven't really been at my place for six months." Cuddy noticed that he hadn't used the word _home_.

"So sell it."

"And where would I live? And what about all of my stuff?" There he had finally said it, they had gotten to the heart of his problems.

"You could live here." She said without sounding nervous or anything, but he could hear her heart hammering through her chest.

"Really?" He had to pinch himself, no he wasn't dreaming, she really had just said that.

"Yeah… you're here most of the time anyway. We'll just make it official and put your name on the mailbox."

"Okay…" He whispered.

"Okay."

They were silent again, but this time there was a smile on both of their faces.

"Holy shit, were moving in together." Cuddy suddenly said.

"Yes we are. No taksie-backsies." She laughed that husky laugh, which he loved so much and it made him so incredibly happy.

House lifted his head and the smile and twinkle in her eyes that greeted him made him stop breathing for some seconds. What was even more amazing, she was this happy because of him. He leaned down and gently placed his lips on her, letting her control the kiss. Instead he focused on her body using his hands. He ran them softly against her stomach getting her to gasp into their kiss.

Their lips broke apart, but House kept his lips on her body, softly trailing them along her neck.

"Maybe we should move this to the bedroom." She whispered while trying to push him off her body.

"No, I think we're fine right here." House sat up and dragged Cuddy to his lap, so she could straddle his hips.

It didn't take long for them to get naked and soon they were joined together. God, he loved it when she was on top of him. Not only did she do most of the work, but he had the image of her breasts bouncing up and down in front of him.

House held on to her waist and slammed her harder against him and she screamed out her release, taking him with her when her walls squeezed around his cock so tightly.

All that was left for them to do, was enjoy the wonderful aftershocks that went through their bodies.

"You just made me a very wealthy woman, did you know that?" House looked up confused. "I did bet on we would move in together after three months of dating, and apparently everybody else bet against me."

She stood up and helped him to his feet, they left their clothes in the living room and walked together to the bedroom.

"Maybe we should start looking for a bigger house." He said when they were cuddled up together under the covers.

"Why?" He could hear in her voice that she didn't really agree with that.

"Because, this house isn't big enough for the three of us." He took her hand. "And as girly as this may sound, I want to own the new house with you."

Cuddy smiled and tried desperately to blink back the tears, but there was no stopping them. "Okay…" She whispered and snuggled deeper into his embrace.

Suddenly they hear Rachel mumble on the baby monitor. "Looks like somebody is having trouble sleeping. Is it okay, if I bring her in here?" House nodded. "Good then you better put some clothes on." She laughed, when she saw him pouting on her way out of the bedroom.

* * *

Later that night when both Cuddy and Rachel were asleep, House's mind took him back to the talk they had some hours ago. He couldn't stop himself from comparing Cuddy to Stacy again. It still boggled his mind that, he and Cuddy could have a serious talk that didn't end with him closing himself off. He and Stacy were often fighting, sure the make-up-sex was fantastic. But House had found out that fighting and sex was not all a relationship should contain.

Cuddy and him, dare he say it, complimented each other quite nicely. Yeah, they had some pretty loud fights behind them, but House had never been happier.

He turned to his side to get a better look at his two girls. Rachel was lying between them with her face turned towards him. House still couldn't believe, that he was allowed to be a part in this precious little girl's life. He had made a promise with himself not to screw it up.

And then there was her mother. It was even harder to believe, that this insanely beautiful woman had allowed him to share her life with him as well. What House had done to deserve this, he didn't know, but he was going to treasure and honor the decision Cuddy had made.

It wasn't gonna be easy, House knew that much, but probably for the first time ever he had people around him who were there to help him.

House looked back at Cuddy and had to look twice, but he was sure her lips had turned into a little smile. And the hand she had on his forearm held on to him a little tighter as well.

* * *

**A/N: So this was the last chapter. I can't really believe it myself that I finished this;-) I would like to thank everybody who read, reviewed and alerted this story... **


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